OWNERS AND OWNING jj 



said it meant more than the words. When I 

 talked to him about backing it, moreover, he 

 asked me to put him on a pony each way, and 

 as he rarely had more than ^5 on a horse this was 

 a great proof of confidence. We secured an 

 excellent jockey, and the horse being game, good- 

 tempered, and easy to ride, the more I considered 

 the affair the more I became convinced that it 

 was really a good thing. I had ^250 on each 

 way at 100 to 7, and the prophets and public so 

 entirely shared our views of the situation that on 

 the morning of the race mine was a good favourite 

 at 100 to 30. 



I met the trainer in the paddock, asked him, 

 of course, how the colt was, heard that it could 

 not have been doing better, but, to my astonish- 

 ment, was further told that he was " very much 

 afraid Fishhook would beat us." I laughed the 

 idea to scorn. 



" Why," I said, " he's been running in selling 

 races in the North ! I should have thought our 

 horse could have given him 2 lib. and lost him, 

 and he has to give us 31b. ! " — for Fishhook was 

 in at 6st. lolb. 



" He's been entered for some selling races, but 

 I don't think he ever ran in one," was the reply. 

 " He belongs to a very artful division, and I'm 



