TIPSTERS AND TIPPING 303 



issues ; and, naturally, the daily sporting papers 

 have their own training reporters at each centre. 

 Personally, however, I have always persistently 

 rejected any such offers, being averse from 

 adopting clandestine methods or breaking confi- 

 dences. Yet there are certain owners who like to see 

 their horses " tipped," and the little general public 

 support their winners. Particularly was this so 

 with the late Lord William Beresford and the late 

 Sir Blundell Maple. The former repeatedly came 

 out of his way to ask me if I had " tipped his 

 horse " for some pending big event, and, if not, on 

 occasions suggested my doing so. The majority of 

 owners — those who are racing for gain, not sport, 

 and who look upon thoroughbreds as mere 

 machines to a financial end — are reticent, and there 

 are many who would even deliberately " put one 

 off." Thus it may be said that a writer must 

 discriminate and be cognisant of human as well as 

 equine form. Weight for age races, particularly 

 the " classics," are usually easy matters both to 

 analyse and select for, as there is a direct public 

 line to go upon. At the end of a season, too, 

 when all horses must be fit — and what is more, 

 " trying " — the form is fairly well-known and 

 easier to diagnose. 



The Press-room on race courses at the present 



