Riding recollections and turf stories . horse at weights they thought he could not be beatenat; but beaten he was, nearly a quarter of a mile,and all the money was lost, as they could not getanyone to back the horse afterwards. I believethis was only one of many instances where ownersthink their horse is sure to win a race, because theyhave been stopping him to deceive the handicapper,whereas they have been deceiving themselves, asthey have never found out their horse was goodenough in the first instance. Thus, after backing himfor a lot of money, they discover he is only a gaydeceiver, and no
Riding recollections and turf stories . horse at weights they thought he could not be beatenat; but beaten he was, nearly a quarter of a mile,and all the money was lost, as they could not getanyone to back the horse afterwards. I believethis was only one of many instances where ownersthink their horse is sure to win a race, because theyhave been stopping him to deceive the handicapper,whereas they have been deceiving themselves, asthey have never found out their horse was goodenough in the first instance. Thus, after backing himfor a lot of money, they discover he is only a gaydeceiver, and no more. I dont mean that this isan everyday occurrence, or that it often happensto trainers or owners who know their business ; butthere are people like my old friend Joe Wood, who 2o6 tRMm IRccollectioits an^ Unit Stories like to try to do something clever and different toother folks, and these are the ones that generally getdropped on. The old saying, A little knowledgeis a dangerous thing, is very applicable in thiscase. CHAPTER The Best Horse : Ormonde— Boiard and King Lud —Visitsto Stockbridge — The Breeder of Petrarch — Pohce dinewhile Pugihsts meet—A Certainty to get Home upon. H E point is always a delicate oneto touch upon with racing men,as to which is the best horsethey have known. A trainer orhis friends are sure to thinksome animal that was trainedby them the best, or an old trainer will tellyou about what the horses did fifty years ago, andargue that they were much better than they havebeen for the last twenty years. As a rule, Ibelieve this to be true, but my opinion is that wehave not seen a better animal than Ormonde —cer-tainly not during my time. He was a good horse inan extraordinarily good year. Look at the TwoThousand Guineas, how Ormonde distanced Minting and the others! To analyze that 2o8 iRiDino IRecoUections an& XTurf Stones form is to admit its excellence. There was Sara-band, a good genuine colt, who in most yearswould have been con
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecthorses, bookyear1894
