TURF LIFK IN THE COLONIES. \f 



'' No/^ be replied, solemnly ; " it's race day, you 

 know, and I got in on the wrong side of the car. 

 It's unlucky/' 



I suggested that getting out again and coming in 

 at the other side did not do away with the fact that 

 originally he had made a mistake. He acknowledged 

 this, but added that repairing the error might lessen 

 the unlucky consequences of his action. 



Another friend, a "chief on one of the Orient 

 liners, whenever he went to a race meeting in Sydney 

 invariably backed a horse whose name suggested 

 something nautical, or reminded him of the boat he 

 was on ; and, strange to say, in several instances he 

 won money by this plan. He backed a horse called 

 Oroya one day, because it was named after an Orient 

 liner, and the horse won. 



Some men invariably back the first horse they see 

 upon entering the paddock, and others back the 

 mount of the jockey whose colours they come across 

 first. 



Later on I shall have something to say about 

 owners, trainers, and jockeys, but in this chapter I 

 am merely generalising. 



Strange characters are to be met with on the turf 

 in the Colonies. 



Hundreds of men '^ live on the game,'' and appear 

 to do well at it. How they live is a mystery to most 

 people. They must have money to bet with, and to 



