view raw text
BEGINNERS RACING LUCK Newcomer to Racing Often Starts Off With a Series of Wins. GHpln Tells How a New Owner "Will Become Overconfident In Ills Ability and Disregard Advice of Trainer. P. P. Gilpin, writing In the London Weekly Dispatch, tells how a- new patron of racing, after a series of wins, will become so confident in his own ability that he will pay no attention to his trainer whatever, only to find within a short while that the stable is not on a paying basis. It seems that it never occurs to the owner that the winnings are the results of clever riding by the jockey and the proficient care and schooling of the horses by the trainer. Mr. Gilpins article follows : "Ncwmnr Quctte has sent his horses to Bolingbroke to be trained by Jack Cornish" Is something like the brief paragraph that appears frequently in the sporting columns of the press. Not of much significance to the general public, perhaps, but behind it there may be an interesting human story bearing upon the relations of Newmar Quette, the owner, and the trainer who formerly prepared his horses a story of differences and dissatisfaction on one side or the other, culminating in the breach which the quoted paragraph publicly proclaims. The cause of the differences between owner and trainer is usually to be found in a want of confidence on the part of the owner in those who serve him. The owner is probably not sure of himself, to begin with, and when a man has no confidence in himself it is easy to understand that he would not have a great deal in others. MAXY TYPES OF MEN. We all know that men are differently constituted. Some are bluff, open and straightforward naturally, and with them it is at all times easy to deal. On the other hand there arc people who are never happy unless they have a grievance, always looking for trouble, and if they do not run against it they create it. There are others of an over-optimistic nature regarding anything they themselves own ; they believe with little justification that their horses are better than those of anybody else and if these horses turn out to be scarcely up to their expectations they immediately look around for someone on whom to place the blame. Naturally, the first person such an owner looks to is his trainer or jockey and most often it is the trainer who has to bear the brunt of the owners dissatisfaction. Even if the jockey should be to blame it may be that the trainer tries to shield him, well knowing as he does the difficulties of the jockeys position. Those who know the luck and surprises of racing are not, as a rule, anxious to attach blame to others. It is only the man who is wholly ignorant, but thinks he knows most things, who is invariably certain that he has been misled by others. PREPARED FOR DISAPPOINTMENT. Far more easy and satisfactory is it to train for a man who understands the sport and its manifold ramifications. The man who knows racing is prepared for disappointment; the unexpected finds him not unprepared and the thwarting of even his dearest wishes docs not surprise him. Generally a sportsman in the truest acceptation of the term, for every success he may have he is sure there will be many failures. Rebuffs he takes as a matter of course. His horse may have been unlucky in one way or another, it may not have been at its best, it may have been shut in during the race, or its jockey may lose through overconfidence or excessive caution whichever of these things happen the well-informed owner will see for himself and will know that it is the luck of the sport that has robbed him of victory. The man who is a newcomer to racing often has "beginners luck," which means that he will lead off with a series of successes which will confirm him in his belief that he is a clever man and that he himself is largely responsible for his triumphs. Never does it occur to him that his victories may be the result of clever handling of his horses by good jockeys, coupled with good care and schooling by a proficient trainer. That owner, of course, soon outruns his luck. It may last some weeks, some months, or exceptionally, may even last a year or more. During that period he is satisfied enough. But let the reverse side of the picture appear and he soon voices his dissatisfaction. It must be somebodys fault; his horses are not properly placed; they are not efficiently trained. His disgruntled murmur-Ings only do him harm, as they upset the man who has been doing his best for him. And if the trainer is not a- man strong in his knowledge he may soon lose the little confidence he has left, with anything but- a beneficial effect upon the prospects of his charges. ILL-INFORMED OWNERS. .There is the ill-informed owner who gives ear to the comments of others who know little or less than himself about racing. dinner or during the after-dinner game of billiards or in the smoking room he will be told what his trainer ought to have done or the mistake his jockey made; he listens to the stupid remarks and futile counsel of the utterly irresponsible and ignorant and becomes more befogged and more querulous than ever and soon makes others as miserable as himself. This sort of thing is trying for the young trainer and results in worrying him into a state that makes it impossible to do himself justice. He may count on the support of this owner and though he may be confident that his patron will not do any better If he goes elsewhere, the young man with his career before him does not wish to lose him, especially if he is only as yet in a small way of business. I have seen trainers almost distraught over an owners complaints and dissatisfaction and have often listened to their outpourings on the subject. Most trainers by diligence and strict attention to business, by using their common-sense and brains, can do a great deal toward success, given reasonable opportunities; but it is quite impossible to make certain of winning on any particular occasion. Even the cleverest trainer must have the proper article if he is to be successful. Owners complain when they see other men winning big races and they themselves are but occasionally successful, and then probably only in small events. It seldom seems to occur to them that other people have better horses. Many other things cause an owner to rail at fortune. He sees a man buy a horse, privately or at public auction for a small sum which develops into a big winner and becomes a valuable commodity, while he himself pays big money for horses not one of which meets with anything like the same success. He will not admit that the other man is probably a better judge of horseflesh or is at the time in lucks way or that he is reaping the reward of both factors combined. Here again he thinks the failure is with the trainer or the jockey. But the owner most undesirable of all to train for is the suspicious man who thinks he is "clever. himself and that his trainer is outwitting him. His own hard dealings teach him to suspect the thoughts of others. He is a curse to any trainer. He is never really happy and even during his runs of success is dissatisfied, thinking he ought to have done better; that his horse instead of winning a ?2,500 race should have won one worth 0,000 and even when he is winning big races that he ought to have won more money on them. He considers the trainer ought to have told him the horse would win and that he should be well supported, giving no consideration to the fact that though the trainer may know all about the horse under his charge it is impossible for the trainer to know as much about the horses of other people. Often it happens that no one can know how good a hcrse is until he has been asked a question in public. No private trial is quite conclusive as to what a horse will do in public when excited, or as it may be spurred on by the crowd. There are owners who expect to win money without risking it. I remember just before a horse won the Liverpool Cup that the manager of the stable told the owner that it was such "a good thing" that he ought to launch out on it. The owner was quite a racing man but he had evidently not the courage to take the advice. Asked afterwards by the manager if he had had a good race he replied, "Oh, no ! I had only 0 on it." No wonder the trainer was moved to remark, "You cannot expect to win money if you do not put it down." It took that owner a long time to understand this and until he did no trainer could really satisfy him.
