OLD MATCHES, AND NEW DODGES 75 



owners and jockeys conspire, some one is sure to 

 come to grief. There is an element of uncertainty 

 in all worldly affairs, and it is a fact that the results 

 of many races give even the law the ' go-by ' in 

 the glorious uncertainty they so forcibly illustrate. 

 Some have been exquisitely ridiculous. ' I remem- 

 ber,' says a once popular sporting writer, ' one in 

 particular that caused the greatest merriment at 

 Chester. There was a good stake in one of the 

 races at that very pleasant meeting, that required 

 three horses to contend for it to make the money 

 available. Two horses were ready, whose owners 

 agreed to divide, and to pay the stake of the third, 

 giving his owner a bonus at the same time to start 

 his horse (some animal they thought nothing of), to 

 fulfil the necessary conditions. Away they went, 

 one of the confederates (old " Zohrab ") very soon 

 pulling up, leaving his coadjutor (Abraham New- 

 land) to canter in and receive the money, as duly 

 intended and arranged ; when, lo and behold ! the 

 despised brute, running on velvet, collared him at 

 the distance, ran as game as a bulldog, stride for 

 stride, and beat him on the post, amidst the laughter 

 and amusement of all acquainted with the circum- 

 stances.' 



This was decidedly a dishonest affair, and the 

 biters were most properly bitten. But sometimes it 

 happens that the owner and trainer are unacquainted 

 with the real merits of a horse until the jockey 



