CHAPTER Y. 



IN THE EING. 



Betting. A word of advice. The clubs. Sweeps. Double, 

 event shops. Odds laid. Back a double. The roof falls 

 in. The ring growing. Mr. H. Oxenham. Some big 

 wagers. Enormous business. Thousands at stake. 

 Charlie Samuels. A crack-runner. Commissioners. 



The members of the ring in Australia are a respect- 

 able body of men, although an undesirable person is 

 occasionally to be met with. Betting is inseparable 

 from horse-racing, and there are some heavy plungers 

 on the Colonial turf. I am not a heavy bettor myself, 

 and am none the worse off for it, although I must 

 confess I cannot help having an occasional flutter 

 when I fancy there is anything good on. If a young 

 man, anxious to gamble on horse-racing, asked me the 

 best system to adopt, I should strongly advise him to 

 systematically keep his money in his pocket, and not 

 bet at all. Few frequenters of the turf, however, 

 can desist putting a pound or two on when they have 

 a fancy. It is a bad practice for any man to bet if the 



