176 THE TURF 



be thought of ' the merry sport ' of placing 

 him in the hands of a ^//-keeper ? * 



One of the principal evils is the betting 

 of trainers and jockeys. We may be asked, 

 is there any harm in a trainer betting a few 

 pounds on a horse he has in his stable, and 

 which he thinks has a fair chance to win ? 

 Certainly not; and the old, and the only 

 proper way of doing this was, to ask the 

 owner of the horse to let him stand some 

 part of his engagements, a request that was 

 never known to be refused. But then no 

 trainer had a person betting for him by 

 commission, and perhaps against the very 

 horses he himself was bringing to the post 

 reducing such bets to a certainty ! The 

 evil of trainers becoming bettors has no 

 bounds ; for when once they enter upon it, 

 it is in vain to say to what extent the pursuit 

 may lead them. Look to the case of Lord 



1 The racing world remember Mr. Watt's honourable 

 conduct on this point, when offered a large price for 

 Belzoni, a great favourite for the St. Leger. ' No,' said 

 he, ' my horse is at present the property of the public. 1 

 It is stated in the Old Sporting Magazine, for December, 

 1835, p. 157 and uncontradicted that Mr. Mostyn had 

 an offer made to him for the Queen of Trumps, on the 

 day previous to her winning the St. Leger stakes, at 

 Doncaster, of seven thousand pounds ! 



