AND TIMES OF JOHN OSBORNE 165 



him for the Derby. After he ran second 

 in the Newmarket Nursery, carrying 8 st. 10 lb., 

 I hedged at £1000 to £50."^ So I stood on velvet, 

 d'ye see? They took 15 to 1 about Coastguard, 

 and I laid £150 to £10 against him. He had 

 left our stable then, but he had not left when 

 I backed him. Now the lot I backed included 

 Prince Arthur, Dr. Eooke, Cathedral, and 

 Coastguard; these and another we had in the 

 Derby. I had three runners — Prince Arthur, 

 Coastguard, and Cathedral — and stood on the 

 day £1500 to nothing Prince Arthur, £350 to 

 nothing Coastguard, and £1500 to nothing if 

 Cathedral had won. As I worked it out, I 

 actually won £10 on the bet. Now you can 

 let them know that this is the way I used to bet, 

 and that this was one of my biggest 'plunges.' 

 I have never been a speculator ; those bets I have 

 mentioned have been my only plunges during my 

 career. At other times I have had something on 

 when I had good reason to invest, thinking they 

 would become favourites, and then hedge, don't 

 you see? Now, when we had Lord Glasgow in 

 for the City and Suburban — Digby Grand beat 

 him — I had to get some money put on for the 

 owner. I had £10 on myself and £10 for a place. 

 They put some more money on for the ovnier, 

 and I stood in £10 for a win and £10 for a place 

 more, of course, at the same time. The money 

 invested averaged 70 to 1 for a win, and 16^ to 1 

 for a place. Well, on the Monday before the 

 race I intended hedging as I had a bit extra on 

 that time, expecting to see hedging do it. I 

 never could hedge; he started at 66 to 1. That 

 was bad luck. But I got out of it all right. I 



