A GOOD FINISH.

♦ ■ . "Rapier"has the following eulogistic description of a finish *or ft race at the lateAacot Meeting:-" The St. James 8 Palace Stakes showed ua one of the most marvellous bits of riding that has been seen within living memory, and, waring as it has been acknowledged all round, the descriptions seem to mc to have been too brief and cursory—for instance, 'Vigilant , in the Sportaman, though I am quite sure that he appreciates and has no desire to underrate the performance, obserTe-f that Ossory and Galore had met before !n the Prince of Wales's Stakes, wE OssorV had won, not mentioning Sfference beinf? « favour ? f the speedy the highest regard for the otnere skiii. ' Oasory will come along, of course,' a supS. nf the stable—bookmakers for TloStlme took 6 to 5 about eitfaer-ob-mSS She watched through his glasses the falling of the flag ; and he was right, for Ossory was soon a clear length ahead. Cannon's difficulty was that Tie had to come along, but not to come along too fast —to extend Galore without exhausting his own colt, and this meant the nicest judgment of pace; Webb, on the speedy nonstayer, had to keep his place without bustling bis mount, reserving the flash of speed for the flaish. So they rounded the turn, sped up the straight, and spectators watched for the first sign that one was cracking. Three hundred yards from the post it came—Galore was now level with Osaory, whom he had been gradually overhauling, and they came on neck and neck, Cannon, who had sat immovable, showing symptoms of energy, and first gradually, then more energetically, riding the colt with his hand*. When he drew his whip a shout of " Galore wins J" arose from both sides of the course. It certainly looked like it. Webb was doing all he knew, and his knowledge is deep and extensive. They were now just four strides from home, and he had the best of it—just a trifle, but how often have we keen watchers of races seen the short head iat this period of the race grow into half a length as the advantage Is retained t Here it was not so. Hardly as Cannon was . pressing Ossory—this Is the great art of I horsemanship—he was still keeping one little effort 'up his sleeve, , as the P? ras c ''goee. Two strides from the post he let it i

out and the pair flashed past the judge neck and neck—what had won nobody could cay. The roar that went up when he 6 and 8 were hoisted sifie by aide—dead heat—was like the shout that records the result of a Derby. \ " I was very glad to hear that roar, because, taken up as it was by the dense crowd on both sides of the course.it showed that this superb exhibition was really appreciated. Need it be said, however, ifiat the Typical Idiot immediately came to the front I ' You know Galore ought to have won easily/ Typical Idiot No. 1 confiided to me-he is very kind, and always tells mc what he thinks— v "Webb had only come a bit sooner he could not have been beaten!" 'You know Ossorv ought to have won easily,' Typical Idiot No. 2 observes a little later, as he was kindly giving a summary of the events of the day; ' if Cannon had only made a little more use of his x horse he wotild have got home comfortably V Thank you, dear Idiots, for your efforts to make mc understand. On the whole, however, I prefer on one hand the opinions .of Mat Dawson and his little coterie of keen observers, who are beginning to know something about racing; and on the other, the opinions of the Duke of Westminster, John Porter, Lord' Altngton, and Sir Frederick Johnstoue. They all agree with mc, and not with either of my Idiots. Can my Idiots teach Gannon , , and \Veb.b to ride races 1 Scarcely, I think. Is it not amasing to hear the rubbish talked by young gentlemen whose experience of horseflesh Is confined to two rides a year in the Park on a livery stable hack that bumps them into the air at every motion, an occasional journey in a hansom cab, and about three per annum to Epsom, Ascot, and Sandown f The expert's chaff is another matter. ' You know, you ought to have got at Tom a bit sooner," was Joseph Cannon's criticism to Webb—delivered with a face that would have been serious but for the twinkle in the eye—when he quietly emerged from the w<yghing-roonw ' Yes, I know; and then I should have been beaten a neck,' is Webb's reply, with the grave look and intonation which would make It difficult for a stranger to UQnerstand that he knew his friend was in fun and saw the humour of the suggestion. But of course he ought to have won, and so ought Tom Cannon, easily, both of them—my tame Idiots say so, and they must know."