TIPSTERS AND TIPPING 301 



race in the same light. Reading the returns of 

 racing in the different issues will immediately 

 confirm this, although it must be borne in mind 

 that as a general rule this syndicate work is done 

 through an agency, and therefore is repeated, 

 verbatim, to several issues. Thus one man's 

 reading of a race is utilised by many different 

 papers. The very style of a horse's victory, as to 

 whether he should have scored more easily or was 

 lucky to win, impresses itself in quite a different 

 way upon different observers. 



It is an old racing adage that first impressions 

 are best, and I frequently find it so in glancing 

 over the Calendar y particularly as regards the big 

 handicaps, for erasures or alterations more 

 frequently than not mean deleting the winner. 

 One can only keep one's eyes and ears open, and 

 where one is reasonably entitled or by favour 

 qualified so to do, ascertain if the owners or 

 trainers " fancy " their horse, while the jockeys 

 also can give opinions pro or con., particularly if 

 they have ever ridden the horse in a race or been 

 alongside him ; for in spite of what has been said 

 about them being bad tipsters, their judgment is 

 necessarily by no means to be altogether disre- 

 garded. It is remarkable that some jockeys 

 invariably seem to know more about what other 



