TROTTING RACES. 99 
track before they can be stopped; whereas others, 
old campaigners as a rule, will slacken speed at 
once when they hear the bell, stop, and turn around 
of their own accord. 
Goldsmith Maid, a mare whose natural cleverness 
enabled her to profit by a long and varied experience, 
showed wonderful intelligence in scoring. When 
turned about to come down for the start, she would 
measure with her eye the distance between herself 
and the other horses; and if it seemed to her that 
they were likely to get first to the judges’ stand, she 
would refuse to put forth her best speed, despite the 
efforts of her driver. The result in such cases was, 
of course, as she foresaw, that the judges, perceiving 
that the start would be an unfair one, rang the recall 
bell. “On the contrary,” says Mr. Doble, “if she 
had a good chance to beat the other horses in scoring, 
she would go along gradually with them until pretty 
close to the wire, and then of her own accord come 
with a terrible rush of speed, so that when the word 
was given she would almost invariably be going at 
the best rate of any horse in the party. . . . If she 
had the pole, she would make it a point to see that 
no horse beat her around the first turn, seeming to be 
perfectly well aware that the animal that trotted on 
the outside had a good deal the worst of it.” 
Close to the fence, but inside of it on the track, 
opposite the judges’ stand or thereabout, there is 
always a motley group of “rubbers” or grooms, and 
helpers, with pails of water and sponges in their 
hands, and blankets, thick or thin according to the 
weather, thrown over their shoulders, or deposited 
conveniently on the fence. Here, very often, the 
