262 BETTING AS IT MI(;HT BE. 



liounds through this system of nominations when no one 

 knows the individual animal he may be backing, than there 

 is on all the horses put together that may be engaged in 

 hundreds of races at the same time. There must be a 

 cause for this, and I think without much seeking a reason- 

 able one may be assigned. It is this : there is no sufficient 

 inducement to tempt the public to precede owners in the 

 market to any extent, and the latter are thus enabled to 

 back their nominations at a fair price, and the public follow. 

 It will be noticed that more than half the quotations in 

 this list are at or above forty to one, whilst in two instances 

 the odds are lOO and 125 to i respectively. But w^erc the 

 greyhounds backed by name, and the tipster and tout on 

 the qui vive to send their patrons the results of trials that 

 never took place, and reports of greyhounds that are well 

 as being ill, and of others that are as fit as fiddles as being 

 broken down (as is the current practice of those who do 

 this kind office for the patrons of the turf^), it may safely 

 be affirmed that not a moiety of these odds would be 

 obtainable. 



The system as pursued with coursing puts the public on 

 a fair footing ; for it (the public) has discrimination enough 

 to see that no one besides those immediately connected with 

 the greyhounds can know which or what dog would represent 

 a certain nomination ; and will not be cajoled and induced 

 to act on the doubtful reports of paid agents : who must 

 say something or they will fail to impress a sense of their 

 importance on their employers. After the draw, any and 

 all may legitimately bet to their heart's content ; whilst 



^ We see in print horses represented as being well and worth baclinj; that 

 actually have been dead some time. This may be sheer ignorance in most cases, 

 but the result is the same : to enrich the bookmakers at the expense of the public. 



