the colts to be good racers, and others very inferior to them;
shall we condemn the blood of these mares which produced the
inferior Horses? If so, we shall never know what good blood is, or
where it is to be found, or ever act with any certainty in the
propagation of this species, and it is this ridiculous opinion
alone of blood, that deceives mankind so much in the breed of
racers. If we ask the jockey the cause of this difference in the
performance of these brothers, he (willing to account some how for
it) readily answers, that the blood did not nick; but will a wise
and reasoning man, who seriously endeavours to account for this
difference, be content with such a vague, unmeaning answer, when,
by applying his attention to matters of fact, and his observation
to the different mechanism of these brothers, the difference of
their performance is not only rationally, but demonstratively
accounted for?

But if this excellence of the racer should really be in the blood,
or what is called the proper nicking of it, I must say, it is a
matter of great wonder to me, that the blood of the Godolphin
Arabian, who was a confined Stallion, and had but few Mares,
should nick so well as to produce so many excellent racers; and
that the blood of his son Cade, who has had such a number of
Mares, and those, perhaps, the very best in the kingdom, should
not nick any better than it seems to have done; for I do not
conceive the performances of the sons of Cade to have been equal
in any respect to the sons of the Godolphin Arabian; though I do
not pretend to determine this myself, but shall leave it to the
opinion of mankind.

The question then is, whether this excellence of Horses is in the