132 TRAINING IN INDIA 



section of the racing public in India, which is, above all 

 others, the country for a comparatively poor man to do a 

 little racing in without it costing him much, provided he 

 knows something about horses ; for stable expenses are 

 very moderate (say forty rupees a month for each horse, 

 including everything), and none but first-class animals 

 cost extravagant sums. But the fact which enables men 

 of small means to race in India, is the system that divides 

 the majority of races among different classes of horses. 

 These events serve both to fill up prospectuses and to 

 accommodate owners. Except at the few centres of 

 racing, it is difi&cult to collect sufficient money to attract 

 first-class animals, even were there more of them in this 

 country, so that handicaps have to be resorted to in order 

 to bring the one or two of them which ever appear at a 

 smaU meeting, together with the second-raters. On this 

 account stewards of race meetings, in order to get fields 

 together, are obliged to add to handicaps races for " all 

 horses," and selling races, those for Arabs, country-breds, 

 galloways, ponies, and for maidens of the different classes, 

 not to mention still more minute divisions. Thus an 

 owner would have bad luck indeed were he not able to 

 find some event or the other suitable to his horses, even 

 if he had nothing better than a country-bred pony, a 

 half-miler, and a jumping nag, although their united value 

 might not exceed two thousand rupees. It may be 

 objected that this is not racing, which it certainly is not 

 in the English sense of the word ; yet for all that, a man 

 who is sufficiently fond of horses to look after and manage 

 them himself, can get good sport with a few moderate 

 ones. Personally I should take more interest in training 



