48 RACING. 



pulled, or in scratching him for the sake of getting money out 

 of him ; but these things are wrong because they are ipso facto 

 dishonest, and not because the ' reputation of turf writers suffers 

 most unfairly ; ' for if that argument be admitted, it follows that, 

 were an owner to say to the prophet of a morning paper, ' In 

 strict confidence, my horse is not intended for the Cesarewitch, 

 but will win the Cambridgeshire,' and if the prophet, prophesy- 

 ing with much of that mystery he so earnestly condemns in 

 trainers, should ' caution his readers ' not to be disheartened 

 by the running of Obscurus in the long race, but to take 

 long shots about him for the shorter one, there could be no 

 ground for complaint, but much for the triumphant crowing of 

 ' Chanticleer,' or whatever the writer may sign himself, in the 

 event of the prophecy being confirmed by results. And yet 

 persons might be found to declare that the ' reputation of the 

 writer ' would have suffered less had he been less well informed. 



Let no evil be spoken of the dead ; but the obituary notice 

 by one sporting writer on another recently deceased may well 

 raise doubts as to whether our turf mentors can, by the very 

 nature of things, be as single-minded in their devotion to the 

 guidance of the speculating public as their lavish professions 

 might lead us to believe. The dead man is described as 

 'fortunate in his plucky speculations on the turf, besides en- 

 joying a lucrative commission business.' Is it possible for a 

 * plucky speculator ' so to divest his mind of all regard for his 

 own private interests that when he takes pen in hand he can 

 refrain from writing, unconsciously though it may be, up to his 

 own book — in other words, from being a ' bull ' or a ' bear ' on 

 the turf exchange ? 



The worst side of turf journalism has been here enlarged 

 upon, because it has so seldom been the subject of published 

 comment. The good — and much good there is — lies patent to 

 the world. No praise can be too great for the laborious 

 accuracy of racing reports, or for the care bestowed on the 

 calculation of weights, through the labyrinth of ' penalties and 

 allowances ; ' while for lightness of touch, quaint metaphor, keen 



