Chronic maidens, horses of two, three, four and even five years of age which have raced repeatedly without winning, are a different proposition. It is immaterial how good their chances may appear on a time-comparison of the field or any other basis; they are suspect. Therefore a good rule for a player to adopt is never to play races for maidens of the sort I have called chronic. Two points may be mentioned. The rules of racing do not require an owner to “try” (to win) with a maiden. If he wants to enter one fifteen times just for the exercise no objection can be raised by officials or anyone else. The second point is that sometimes in races for maidens a player will note that the race is the first start for some one entrant. If this horse is well bred, and particularly if he is owned by an important stable, then the smart thing may be to bet him. The others have proved repeatedly that they have nothing; the previous non-starter may have something on the ball.