TRAINERS' CUSTOMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2490, 4 December 1901, Page 51

TRAINERS' CUSTOMS.

There has been a great deal of talk in racing circles lately in England about various training methods* as to which, alas,

some persons speak volubly withe . "-;ac! tical knowledge. As a matter oi , there is very little vanety in Englisa iiair-| ing methods. They are now pretty muc/i!j the same — barring long sweats — as they werre in the time of our grandfathers ; if they^ have not irnpro\ed appreciably they have* not gone back, which is something to bs thankful for; and a horse, after all, cannon be fitter than fit. no matter how the process is achieved. When we insist that he umsfj be very fit we deal in superlatives. He cannot do more than win his race, and if he can do that we must be careful to put the money down in earned when he is going" out, so that Mo may note the triumph with a seme ol fehcitv.

English trainers are a conservative class, averse to change except on compulsion. Their idea is that their own system is so good, if not the best, that it cannot be altered with advantage : and when the "foreigners" first arrived at Newmarket their efforts were derided to some extent by the local talent. They began to win races, whereupon our own professors did not smile so blithely, since the prospect of a new and obviously dangerotis form of competition was not pleasant. Was theirs the" besc system after all? Were they going to lose any of their good living or any of their nice profits? Pocket and stomach indeed!— touch a man in either department and he is likely to make the fur fly.

A fixed routine is the first feature to be admired or not in connection with work in our racing stables. The horses are out for about a couple of hours' daily exercise ; consequently, for twenty-two hours they are in the stable. Some, if gross and brilliant " doers," may have a walk in the afternoonl They go through a certain programme of cantering and galloping, in accordance with the trainer's notion as to what is necessary, to get them fit. Study of individual idiosyncrasy is not particularly keen. What one horse does to prepare him for a mile race another does, as a rule, though the latter may not want so much work, or can do as much again. Of course, many of our eminent trainers now devote attention to these points, which are of supreme importance; and it is a platitude to say that if we want to win races we must be thoroughly up-to-date.

" Too much galloping and not enough' work " — that was the somewhat paradoxical' description of the English system given by a man who happened to know — how sweet the phrase ! — what he was talking about? He meant that our racehorses are often called upon to do too much fast exercise in a short time, and are not kept out long enovigh. They are slipped along and taken home. Twenty-two hours in their box (and all horses do not lie down during the afternoon, whilst "weavers" are better so), represents an extensive period for meditation, and the confinement is not beneficial in every case. We should not like it ourselves ; it would not be good for any, of us. No one would attempt to train a man on such principles. This, perhaps, may be regarded as having been a weak spot in the native practice, and there is reason, to rejoice that 'suitable modifications are being introduced, so as to make progress in the right direction.

A trainer like Alvarez, for example, gives his hoi-ses less fast galloping and more work. ? He keeps them out of their stable several! hours each day, walking, trotting, and can-f tering about. Ensom Lad is a proof of the efficacy of his method. It also makes horsea quieter, so that, in a little while, a lad majK ride one and lead another in ordinary steady 1 , work. But if he tries to do that in fasfc galiops he is likely to have bad luck. The led horse may "do something' en route 1 ; say swerve or dash off on his own account,-' when the la-d will have to lose him, or hC pulled off. We need entertain no doubt as to which plan will be adopted. •■

Neither must it be thought that this leading habit as adopted by Alvarez is at all new. Ten years ago I saw the same tiling done on Epsom Downs. The late Johnt Jones often practised it with his 'chasers,' especially for those with p. tender back;[ but he did not send them, thus coupled, to do long, fast galops. Horses, too, must ba fairly quiet, or they cannot be exercised in this way, the only merit of which is that it saves labour and keeps weight oft their back. Stallions would be likely to cause trouble if they were handled in this manner. They are rather fiery customers when 1 they are a bit above themselves, when they, are "on their toes," and want to get' higher. Yet it is noteworthy that the " foreigners' " horses at Newmarket always seem! to be tired.

" Do they ever buck and kick vigorously, as if they wish to jump out of their skin?" was the question I put to a local oracle. i

" Buck and kick ! " he replied, expecto* rating with ferocity; "why, they appear to have forgotten how Jp hold their headi up. One can tell from their movements, even in the distance, that they are alive, but if wo were to say they are growing weary of this life we might have reason on our side."

"Do you seen many of their gallops?" I pursued; "those gallops, for instance, in which the jockey has a led horse in tow, and steers the first and second in one race":"

" I am not fond of getting up in the middle of the night to see anything," answered the other, coldly " These horses are out in the fresh air at all hours, and they, seemed to be trained on ozone and perpetual motion. Yet I must say that when they come out to run, tired or not, they are very fit." That is true enough, as everybody knows ; and on the turf just now foreign competition is exceedingly formidable. When we see a long face or dwo in the paddock at the present time we notic-a that they are not imported. They are genuine products ofi the soil, whether good-looking or desperately ill-favoured. A jockey who has come baclo from France told me that it is no use for any professional in this line ta go there now unless he can speak with a strong Yankee accent and do what he likes. "If he wants to go to scale with a 'fag* in his mouth," said my informant, "he sees no reason why he should not be allowed to do so, and if he gives his ' fag ' to the owner to hold for him while he is riding in the race, he does not expect that nobleman to be offended, though, if he is offended, the jockey does not care ont darned cent."

We bear pretty much rhe same story everywhere ; it is becoming odiously fam_liar. Our trainers, generally speaking, continue to ilold their own, and a few o£ tka eminent ones are perhaps making a fortune, if not quite such a larare fortune as the;?, would like to make. Their expenses arm necessarily heavy, :*iiice they take very, generous views of life, and do not alwayv win when they back a hor->e for a coxisuloable stake. An occasional slip-up m tha M direction takes fome of the gilt off thoi ' gingerbread. And they mivst bet if theu'

tfish to maintain their proper place in their bwn society. Some of the smaller trainers are, howfever, beginning to feel the pinch of comjpetition. Their boxes are not always full, and they see stalls empty. The business is Hot so nourishing as ifc used to bo ; whiLt many gentlemen or amateur trainers have entered the lists, and do their best to make a great deal of money. Increased pressure all round thus helps to knock some of us /off our percb, so to speak, and the enemy as still advancing upon us. We must meet 'ihim with a bold front ; we must be as good as he is, or better, if he is not a wonder, and even imported wonders are kcarce. It 'is no use crying out until we are whipped, t and then nobody will pity us. Yet there are heroic souls who, taking a pessimistic ,;view of the- future, are not too cheerful in their utterances ; and, having no smart •horses just now, I often feel an- impulse to throw up the sppuge myself. — An Owxee, in Sporting Sketches.