BACKERS AND BACKING 173 



tenners in addition perhaps, because some friend told 

 him that he oughtn't to let his animal run loose. 

 This ingenious backer's idea was to wait for a really 

 good thing and have a dash, and in furtherance of 

 his judicious project he waited until the Thursday, 

 resisting temptations to bet until the numbers went 

 up for the Gold Cup. This was a certainty for 

 the French horse, Perth II., on whom odds of 4 to 

 I were being laid. The patient backer laid 400 to 

 100, anticipated the result with the utmost 

 confidence, and saw the certainty finish fourth in a 

 field of six, the race falling to the by no means 

 remarkable handicap horse Merman, who accord- 

 ing to all possible calculations a horse of Perth's 

 class should have " lost." Our friend might have 

 had a considerable amount of fun by betting his 

 usual ponies and fifties, and at any rate it would 

 have taken him some time to lose his >C400- To 

 get this back was now, however, his only ambition. 

 There was another practical certainty an hour later 

 — Caiman, in the Rous Memorial ; and he laid 

 500 to 400 on this, in furtherance of the object so 

 constantly pursued on a racecourse of " getting 

 home." Caiman, however, also finished fourth, 

 and there was another monkey gone ; which tends 

 to show that the system of waiting patiently for 

 good things and having a dash is by no means 



