304 THE RACING WORLD 



time is quite a general rendezvous with owners, 

 trainers, and jockeys, and there is no question — in 

 contrast to a few years back — that the leading 

 writers of the day and the actual active forces in 

 racing are on particularly friendly terms. The 

 advantages of a free Press are recognised, and 

 comment, favourable or otherwise, is accepted in a 

 good sporting spirit. At times, of course, by 

 virtue of this very fact a tipster's hands are some- 

 what tied, and there is hardly a week in which I 

 am not approached concerning some horse, and 

 invited to have what I like on myself (either 

 directly or by standing in with the stable), if I will 

 not mention it in type. However, there are 

 occasions when one obtains confidences from 

 private sources and is perplexed how to act, when 

 writing about the race, without seeming to break 

 faith. I have executed no end of commissions, 

 small and large, on big events and selling plates, 

 for trainers and jockeys innumerable, both at flat- 

 racing and jumping, but have rarely found the 

 information thus naturally and directly furnished in 

 any way an aid to success — rather the reverse. I 

 have tipped horses of my own in the firm belief 

 that they were practical racing certainties, only to 

 find eventually that I have known less about them 

 than anybody else. In the main, owners are only 



