THE BETTING RING. 61 



firm conviction that the horse could not stay, had 

 offered 15,000 to 100, and 10,000 to 100 

 against him, as he was journeying by rail to New- 

 market, and was snapped immediately by a " com- 

 missioner," who happened to be in the carriage. 

 Lord George's faith in his bay continued unabated 

 to the last, and he took 16,000 to 2,000 about 

 him not many hours before the race; and hence 

 Day was glad to come to terms with him, and lost 

 3,000 by meddling with the |" sky-blue," though 

 his balance on the race was a favourable one. 



Since the abolition of the betting-houses, which 

 dealt an immense blow to the Ring by cutting off 

 the supplies which dribbled in through them from 

 all parts of the country, and so found their way to 

 the Corner, Mr. Davis has occupied a much less 

 prominent part in the eyes of the public ; and he 

 has, in fact, almost ceased to make a Derby book, 

 and confines himself to post-betting. He has 

 made one so high as 100,000, but now he scarcely 

 pencils a Derby bet till a fortnight before the race. 

 He says with truth that he has lost all his money on 

 the Derby and Oaks, while on the St. Leger and at 

 post-betting he is uniformly lucky, and a great advo- 

 cate for the abolition of the P. P. system. We be- 

 lieve that he made his first bet of half-a-crown at the 

 Silver Cup in Cromer Street, Gray's Inn Road, about 

 fourteen years ago, when he was in Mr. Cubitt's 

 employ. A long time elapsed before he entered any 

 public betting-rooms, but he simply joined the noisy 

 outer circle ; laying generally a point or two more 

 than were attainable inside. When he began to be 

 a man of mark, this difference was soon taken copi- 

 ous advantage of, and in self-defence he went within. 

 His first heavy hit is said to have been for 12,000 

 over The Cur for the Cesarewitch. Hotspur's not 

 winning the Derby made a difference to him of some 

 50,000, and Barbarian's failure, of nearly twice that 



