'THE WEIGHTED SCALES' 305 



the first that, in justice, the winner was entitled to the 

 race. There was no doubt that the decision was, as 

 considered at the time, a fair one. In fact, it could not 

 be viewed in any other light. 



Existing accounts of this curious affair, though 

 accurate enough, are hardly so complete as the interest 

 attaching to it can fairly claim that they should be. I 

 will, therefore, venture to give my version of it. 



The scandal arose from the fact that someone had 

 fixed some lead under one of the scales for there were 

 two scales, one at the lower, and one at the top, stand. 

 It was pretty well known at the time, and is now, who the 

 offender was. A light-weight jockey who rode in the 

 race had wasted very hard, in the hope that he would 

 reduce himself to the exact weight. Unfortunately, on 

 scaling privately early in the morning, he found himself 

 2 Ib. over the weight he had to ride, and fearing, I 

 imagine, that he might be taken off, he kept the secret to 

 himself. Before the jockeys were weighed out for the 

 race, he went to the clerk of the scales, the late Mr. 

 Manning, then engaged at the lower stand weighing 

 jockeys for some other race, and said : 



' I have left my light saddle in the top stand ; please 

 let me have the key to get it, as I have to ride in the 

 next race.' 



As there was nothing unusual in the request, the key 

 was handed to him, and the opportunity thus afforded 

 him of fixing, unobserved, the lead to the bottom of the 

 scales without exciting suspicion, as he soon returned 

 and gave the key back to its proper custodian. Clearly 

 to understand the circumstances, I should state that 

 though the jockeys were allowed to ' weigh out ' before 

 the race at either of the scales, they could only ' weigh 

 in ' after the race at the top stand. The jockey knew 



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