forty-two horses had taken up their position on the starting line for the greatest race of the season. the course was extremely difficult and few horses were expected to finish. all eyes were on the favourites, college boy and sweet seventeen. both horses had won a great many races in the past and they had equal chances of winning now.

　　though the horses got off to a good start, it was not long before over half of them were out of the race. as was expected, college boy and sweet seventeen had got well in front with the remaining horses grouped together some way behind. on a sharp corner, three of the horses leading the group fell, throwing the riders behind into great confusion (混乱). as the race progressed, the track became full of horses without riders. towards the end, there were only three horses left: college boy and sweet seventeen were still leading with an unknown horse, tom thum, a very long way behind. the crowd was very disappointed when on the last jump in the race. the riders of both favourite horses failed to keep the saddle (马鞍).

　　everyone roared (呼喊) with delight when college boy continued by himself and“won”the race----without his rider! tom thum now took his time and the crowd cheered and applauded (鼓掌欢呼) as he crossed the finishing line without a rival (竞争者,对手) in sight.