176 JOHN PORTER OF KINGSCLERE 



Though he had not grown in height, he had 

 acquired strength, and with it increased racing 

 ability. My experience convinces me that a 

 vast number of horses are ruined by being unduly 

 forced as two-year-olds, and sometimes as three- 

 year-olds. It is foolish to imagine that because 

 some horses take no harm when frequently raced 

 while their powers are maturing, others can, 

 with impunity, be treated in the same way. 

 Every horse is a law unto himself. His charac- 

 teristics must be carefully studied, and the 

 trainer, having made up his mind as to the best 

 course to pursue, fails in his duty if he does not 

 advise the owner to act in accordance with his 

 conclusions. The temptation to exploit a two- 

 year-old for the mere sake of obtaining a quick 

 return is a baneful one, and more often than not 

 owners who give way to it are blameworthy. 



Isonomy, as a four-year-old, won six of the 

 eight races in which he ran. His record that 

 season began and ended with a defeat. In the 

 Newmarket Handicap, at the Craven Meeting, 

 he failed by a length and a half to give two years 

 and 8 lb. to Mr. Lorillard*s Parole over the last 

 twelve furlongs of the Beacon Course ; in the 

 Cesarewitch, handicapped at 9 st. 10 lb., he was 

 badly bumped by our own horse Westbourne, 

 in the Dip, a furlong from home. But for this 

 interference he would almost certainly have 

 finished first or second. 



