STUD BOOKS. 45 



to defect of type. If the value of the horse 

 depended upon his general aggregate of good 

 qualities rather than on his individual and 

 special power of achievement — that is to 

 say, if the test to which he is suhjected 

 were a qualifying one, and not a competitive 

 (since in a race, though all the horses may 

 be good horses, only one of them can win) 

 — then the breeding of thoroughbred stock 

 would be reduced to as great a certainty 

 as can be experienced in any such enter- 

 prise. Por though a thoroughbred horse 

 that is not quite speedy enough to win 

 any of the short distance scurries, which 

 seem now to constitute the popular notion of 

 the noble sport of horse-racing, is generally 

 (though, I think, erroneously) considered an 

 almost worthless animal ; yet, no matter how 

 often a breeder draws a blank in this respect, 

 he always gets what in effect he breeds 

 for — viz., a horse of the thoroughbred con- 

 figuration and character, since no animal 



