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HOW THEY DO IT SOMETIMES IN ENGLAND ENGLANDGovernment Government of racing in England is more strict in some details than in this country and decidedly more lax in others A statement by the rider of a beaten horse for instance is given more weight than would usually be accorded it by racing judges in the United States It is no infrequent thing for a rider to pull his mount up and canter in His statement if questioned that his horse was beat n when he pulled it up is generally accepted as a sufficient explanation Sometimes the crowds in attendance view the matter differently and disagree ¬ able scenes not altogether unknown in our land ensue An illustration was afforded in the course of the Gatwick meeting last month of which London Sportsmans track writer said saidMr Mr AVhitaker was riding Sprinkle Me in the March Steeplechase and it happened that his mount was favorite The distance of the race was three miles The writer watched the race through powerful glasses and after the field had traversed a mile there was a cluster of four horses in front then a long Indian tile of which one of the last was Sprinkle Me the distance separating the e later from the leaders being a furlong and a half Mr Whltaker was sitting up in the saddle trying g apparently to pull his mount up This as he ex ¬ plained afterwards was in fact what he was s intent on Gradually however the horses in front it began to drop back the pace having been too hot i and it seemed to dawn upon Mr Whltaker that t Sprinkle Me had a chance so he set him going in n earnest with the result that in the last six fui longs he made up ground hand over hand and d though the effort was made so late lie was only y beaten by two lengths lengthsThen Then a similar scene occurred to that which h had been enacted twentyfour hours previously at it Birmingham The occupants of the chief enclosure e hurried iuto the paddock and endeavored to make e it clear to Mr Whitaker what their opinion regard 1 ¬ ing him was There were some exciting moments s while the jockey was unsaddling his horse but he ie eventually gained shelter and comparative hospital 1 ¬ ity In the weighing room The stewards Mr C 3 A Egerton and Mr J H Locke at once asked d Mr Whltaker to appear before them and requested d an explanation of his riding Mr Whitaker said d he had 35 on Sprinkle Me but the horse made a blunder in the earlier stages of the race and id jumped so badly over the next few fences that he ie gave the case up as hopeless and pulled him This Is explanation was accepted How ought the handi I cappers to handicap Sprinkle Me in the future T was one of the first questions asked of Mr C A i Egerton who is a member of the National Hunt it Committee That is for the handlcappers to de e ¬ cide was Mr Egertons answer
