318 EACECOURSE AND COVERT SIDE. 



have taken speedy advantage of an openiDg had 

 one been made ; but though going much stronger 

 at the finish than the first and second, could 

 only get into third place. 



There is no better all-round horseman at pre- 

 sent on the turf, and certainly no more graceful 

 rider, than Tom Cannon, who is, indeed, a model 

 of v^hat a jockey should be, though at the same 

 time he sacrifices nothing material to elegance. 

 Like the rest of his most accomplished brethren, 

 Cannon never wins by a length if a head will 

 do ; but he is a consummate judge of pace, and 

 never throws away a chance. Thus, when 

 Eobert the Devil won the Ces are witch in a 

 canter, carrying 8st. 6lb. — an unprecedented 

 weight for a three-year-old to bear victoriously — 

 Cannon was criticised by some persons for ex- 

 posing the horse by winning so far. His explana- 

 tion was that had he not won so easily he might 

 not have won at aU ; for the horse was going 

 freely and at perfect ease, and to have pulled 

 him out of his stride might have been to have 

 stopped him altogether. Cannon always rides 

 with his head, and his " finish " is especially 

 fine. Inferior jockeys take hold of their reins 

 and whirl their arms about in a way which 

 surely must have the effect of confusing, and of 

 stopping rather than aiding, the horse. Their 



