i82 THE RACING WORLD 



That business of " getting home " is one of the 

 chief pitfalls in the backer's path. It is all very 

 well to tell him that there will be plenty of racing 

 next week and the week after. What he wants is 

 to avoid having to pay on Monday — not to be a 

 loser on the day ; and thus Puntington, instead of 

 sticking to his tenners, with an occasional pony 

 perhaps, went out of his depth and had £i^o on 

 a race. We all do it — at least most of us do — 

 begin modestly and lose our heads when the luck 

 is against us ; and I am the better qualified to 

 warn backers against this disastrous course because 

 I so frequently do it myself and know the folly of 

 it. I was amused at a story a friend told me the 

 other day of a modest backer of very humble rank 

 who had mentally attached himself to a great 

 stable. He had no sort of connection with it, had 

 never spoken, or was in the least likely to speak, 

 to any one who had, but it pleased him to imagine 

 that he was intimately concerned ; he followed its 

 fortunes as if he were so, and appeared to derive 

 an immense amount of gratification from the 

 process. He noted the mating of the mares with 

 approval or displeasure, watched for news of the 

 birth of foals, looked for any information he could 

 obtain about the animals as yearlings, was elated or 

 disappointed at what happened when they were 



