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"horses for courses"

Posted by ESC on January 06, 2000

In Reply to: "Horses for courses" and "on the threshold" posted by Louise Greig on January 06, 2000

: I would like to find out the origin of the phrases "horses for courses" amd "on the threshold" as I haven't been able to find this out anywhere else. I am quite aware of their current meanings but have been set the task of finding out where they came from and what the originally meant. I would appreciate it if anyone could help me out with this.

: Louise Greig

A while back, someone posted an inquiry about "horses for courses." I contacted a racing magazine based in Kentucky and received a reply that "horses for courses" is a racing term that simply means individual horses do their "personal best" on particular race courses. A computer glitch wiped out that Word file, but that's the answer I got to the best of my recollection. My source couldn't tell me exactly who first used the term.

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