10 ON AND OFF THE TURF. 



pay tlieir expenses, and tliey always liave a pound or 

 two to invest upon anything they fancy. 



Many of them are friends of the jockeys, and no 

 doubt obtain information from them; and jockeys are 

 much more ready to talk on an Australian racecourse 

 than they are in England. These hangers-on of the 

 turf are a nuisance to trainers, for the}'' are constantly 

 badgering them for tips. Women punters abound, 

 on the racecourses, and the same faces may be seen 

 meeting after meeting. As a rule these punters are 

 middle-aged or elderly women, although there are a 

 few young ones to be found in this class. 



It is amusing to watch the tactics of these women. 

 Their faces show plainly the fascination gambling — 

 not horse-racing — possesses for them. Their flushed 

 countenances and restless expression betoken a mind 

 and system strung to the highest pitch by the per- 

 nicious habits they have acquired, and which, alas ! 

 have thoroughly mastered them. With a purse 

 tightly clutched in one hand, and either a satchel 

 or an umbrella in the other, they push and jostle in 

 the crowded ring, and dart from one bookmaker to 

 another in their eaf^erness to see which horses are 

 backed. 



There is no bashfulness about these dames of the 

 turf, and I am afraid some of them forfeit a good deal 

 of what self-respect they may have to obtain informa- 

 tion. 



