250 BETTING AS IT IS. 



The commission agent, or commissioner, is an important 

 factor in the present system of betting, and now deserves a 

 word, for with him most racing men have unfortunately too 

 much to do for their own benefit. 



As a rule, few owners of racehorses keep them purely for 

 the pleasure of seeing them run. Some are content to rest 

 their hopes of profit on winning the stakes alone, but the 

 majority prefer to back their horses. It is to the latter, and 

 to the latter only, that the following remarks chiefly apply. 

 Gentlemen of princely fortune can afibrd to keep studs, and 

 large ones too, without the uncertain aid of success. These 

 require no agents. They consult only their own pleasure 

 when and where and how often they shall run their own 

 horses. But it is a very different matter with those whose 

 means are limited and who race for gain as well as for love 

 of the sport. Such gentlemen hope, and very properly so, 

 to turn to profitable account the knowledge they possess of 

 the merits of their own horses ; and a well-digested plan 

 often brings the coveted success without the aid of the 

 commissioner. 



But the purchase and keep of racehorses and the atten- 

 dant expenses are so very- heavy, that racing for stakes alone 

 is not a sufficient inducement to attract the many ; it is only a 

 very few that can indulge in a sport so costly. Hence it is that 

 betting is so popular with owners, and that the commissioner 

 is unfortunately so often called in to do what the owner could 

 do so much better for himself The very first thing a gentle- 

 man does after finding a good horse, is indirectly to impart 

 the fact to his commission agent, with a request that he will 

 back the animal for him for ;^i,ooo or ^2,ooo as the case 

 may be. This is generally done badly, and the trainer or 

 jockey (who may have ridden in the trial) blamed for 



