66 PREPARATION. 
opportunity was given to them of showing their supposed 
improved form and of displaying their luxurious appearance 
in the (supposed) very pink of condition, leaving, as was said, 
nothing to be desired to insure the most splendid success, 
but a good start and no accident. All seven that ran were 
disgracefully beaten, one only obtaining even a third place. 
I should mention that I had another horse with me about 
whose training there was no order, who won the Queen’s 
Vase, and it is almost needless to add that before the race 
his condition was as much abused as that of the others was 
lavishly praised. 
Now all this was not business. It was simply a useless 
and costly repetition of an experiment which had signally 
failed over and over again to my own knowledge, and had been 
tried with the same fatal results by my ancestors. In order to 
prevent another fiasco I was requested to run the same 
horses as I liked at Goodwood seven weeks afterwards. On 
arriving there their condition was thought much too light; 
but the result of their respective races will give the most 
convincing proof that it was not—and show the superiority 
of light or (as I think) well-trained horses over those that are 
only thought fit to run when big. One of them won, beating 
a. large field carrying 8 st. 41b., or 6lb. more than he carried 
at Ascot. Another carried off the Molecombe after a severe 
race with a mare hitherto considered invincible, and also won 
again afterwards. Whilst the third beat a large field for 
another race, and followed up her success by winning again. 
The other two were placed, being only just beaten. 
Now to do bare justice to this most important part of the 
subject, and to proceed still further and show not only (as I 
have done) that horses are better for racing purposes for the 
time being when light, but also that they are not the worse 
