00 THE POST AND THE PADDOCK. 



was, and asked him how he dared to pick up a hare 

 on the Rose Castle grounds before his very eyes), 

 with " You're the Bishop, are you ? and a devilish 

 good place, too ; MIND YOU KEEP IT." 



Between the owners of horses and the King there 

 never will he any very perfect understanding. The 

 former consider that they may milk and scratch their 

 horses if it suits their book, or start them purposely 

 short of work ; while the latter and the public look 

 pretty much upon the horses as their own property 

 as soon as the acceptances are made. In fact, it is 

 a battle of kites and crows ; and it is matter of ob- 

 servation that those who are the most unscrupulous 

 themselves are always the most stern and talkative 

 moralists when their own interestshave been thwarted. 

 Lord George Bentinck gave the turf a serious blow 

 when he dictated to the backers of Elis the only 

 terms on which he would allow him to start for the St. 

 Leger. Hence his copyists have been " legion," and 

 many a horse has been sent home because the owner 

 has been forestalled, and cannot get anyone to lay 

 him the original odds, in spite of his thumbscrew, to 

 a 5 note. Not a few of the Ring have horses, or an 

 interest in them ; but out of the 800 men (including 

 Lord Jersey, the father of the turf, and the other 66 

 members of the Jock eyClub) who declare their colours, 

 not more than 220 run them in their own names. 

 A nom-de guerre in sporting used to be principally 

 used by University men when a steeple-chase or a 

 boat race required them to dare the anger of proc- 

 tors or anxious relations. It was at first rather 

 frowned on by racing authorities in " Mr. Gordon's" 

 case, but they have become as plentiful now as 

 " spots" were after Voltigeur's victory, or " garters" 

 in later years, among the list of race- jackets, and at 

 least a dozen peers and commoners adopt this very 

 ostrich-like idea of secrecy. 



As regards the morale of the Ring, it must be al- 

 lowed that speculation is a normal vice in man, and, 



