AUTHOR’S PREFACE
ALL men love a horse who know a horse. The love of contest and struggle forms a kinship between man and horse that exists between no others. It is the gameness, the courage, the fighting spirit of the thoroughbred which arouses in man the finest instincts, and it is these qualities that cause the love of man for the thoroughbred. It is noticeable too, that the thoroughbred horse loves only those human beings who possess those same qualities.
On the race-track we find the only pure democracy of the world, a democracy which includes all classes, all strata of society. It is more liberal, more forgiving of human frailties and human weakness, than any other place, because men who know racing understand how hearts break when the weight cloths are too heavy and the distance too great.
These little tales of the turf are based upon real incidents and real characters. Perhaps those lovers of racing who have lived the life will recognize the characters, and to those I would plead that they extend to them the same broad understanding and forgiveness that they give to the tout, the cadger, and the down and outer in real life.
The Author