172 CHASING AND RACING 



head of the bill " : " Match for 200, Mr. Deacon's 

 The Pusher against Capt. Harding Cox's Trelaske, 

 10 stone 7 Ibs. each. D.M." 



Of course I was curious to see whom my adversary 

 had selected to steer his pig of a horse. I was not 

 kept long in doubt. Who do you suppose it was ? 

 Why, none other than the redoubtable Jack Watts, 

 then at the zenith of his fame ! 



So here we had a top-notch professional jockey 

 pitted against one who had always been regarded as 

 very small beer (despite his numerous successes) even 

 in the amateur ranks. This promised lots of fun ; but 

 as matters turned out, the onlookers did not get much 

 value for their money. 



The track to be negotiated was the D.M. (Ditch 

 Mile). I had Trelaske walked to the post, thinking 

 that it would be to his advantage to be minus the 

 10 stone 7 Ibs. until the white flag was about to be 

 raised. 



Watts was already in waiting ; The Pusher doing 

 some elegant haute ecole gyrations. 



I had drawn the rails, and Trelaske was standing 

 quietly enough. They say that the essence of strategy 

 and tactics is the knowledge of when and where the 

 enemy intends to strike. Well, I knew that Watts 

 meant outmanoeuvring me. Of course he had a soft 

 job on, and had not the slightest intention of allowing 

 the match to be decided on the merits of the nags, pace 

 the riders. 



