ON RACING. 271 



occasion ; the race was run in a different 

 way ; or (and this I suspect is the commonest 

 cause of such disappointments) it was run 

 on quite a different course. Few persons, 

 prohably, are aware of the immense difference 

 this makes. A good horse, no doubt, should 

 he able to run well on any course ; but, as 

 a matter of practical experience, very few 

 indeed are at their best alike on a level 

 course, one with more or less sharp gradients 

 in it, and one which finishes on an incline ; 

 or again when the ground is hard, and when 

 they have to gallop through mud. Once 

 more, the race-horse is one of the most 

 sensitive of highly organised creatures ; like 

 human beings, he has his good days and his 

 bad ; and clever indeed would be the trainer 

 who could make sure of delivering him at 

 the post practically the same animal on each 

 occasion he is called upon to run. In nine 

 cases out of ten in which a backer considers 

 himself to have been swindled, I believe 



