278 THE RACING WORLD 



attention is called to the entry he is certain to 

 notice it. Newmarket is reached, and if the 

 listener could have comprehended what he heard 

 he would really have learned a good deal about the 

 prospects of the week's sport ; but the language of 

 the regular racegoer is cryptic to the outsider. 



I once took a distinguished lawyer to a race 

 meeting, and what chiefly struck him was the 

 manner in which what he called the " contracts," 

 otherwise the bets, were made. I had, he said, 

 betted on two animals but never mentioned any 

 horse's name ; and he thought that endless con- 

 fusion and dispute must inevitably be the result of 

 such transactions. At first I did not understand 

 what he meant, but he explained. 



" I took particular notice," he went on, 

 " because I was interested in the business. You 

 said, ' How are you betting ? ' ' Two to one on the 

 field, 5 to I bar one, 8 to i bar the two.' That is 

 what the man replied, and he added, ' Two 

 ponies .? ' You said ' Yes,' at least I don't really 

 believe you spoke : you simply nodded, and said 

 ' And fifty to ten the other.' Now, how could 

 he know which you wanted to back .? It seems to 

 me that blunders — very likely quite unin- 

 tentional — must constantly be made .? " 



I could quite understand then that it may have 



