172 THE TURF 



a high price at a price which ordinary 

 virtue cannot withstand that their books 

 are made up. Again ; how do the second- 

 class of bettors act? We reply they bet 

 upon men and not upon horses ; for so soon 

 as they can positively ascertain that certain 

 persons stand heavy against any one horse, 

 that horse has no chance to win, unless, as 

 it sometimes happens, he is too strong for 

 his jockey, or the nauseating ball has not 

 had the desired effect. He runs in front, 

 it is true, for he can run to win ; but what 

 is his fate ? Why, like the hindmost wheel 

 of the chariot, he is 



' Cursed 

 Still to be near, but ne'er to reach the first. ' 



Unfortunately for speculators on the turf, 

 the present enormous amount of a few of 

 our principal sweepstakes renders it impos- 

 sible to restrict the owners of race-horses 

 from starting more than one animal in the 

 same race. The nominations for the Derby, 

 Oaks, etc., take place when the colts are 

 but one year old; consequently, many of 

 them die before the day of running, or, what 

 is worse, prove good for nothing on trial. 



