SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



" on the map," but heavy and sustained gambUng 

 ensued over Sittingbourne and The Reiver, and 

 against them Davies laid till backers were exhausted. 

 I was " reading " the race for Davies, and seeing 

 Filbert coming over the hill by himself, with Nut- 

 pecker some distance off second, I cried, " Why, Bill, 

 here's Exeter's pair leading. It must be a false 

 start." 



But it was nothing of the kind. To Filbert went 

 the stakes and to Davies the bets. The explanation 

 of the extraordinary result was that as soon as the 

 flag fell The Reiver and Sittingbourne, instead of 

 racing, started fighting, rearing up like mad beasts, 

 and rushing open-mouthed at each other. An inci- 

 dent of this character stands unique in Turf story. 



If at tunes Davies was one of the sternest he 

 could also be one of the kindest of men. The points 

 he insisted upon were complete truthfulness and the 

 fulfilment of promises. A client who had had a bad 

 time, and approached him with an unvarnished tale, 

 was safe of lenient treatment. "You say you can't 

 pay me on Monday. Very well. When can you 

 pay ? Name your own time ; only, when you have 

 named it you must pay. And in the meanwhile you 

 can go on betting. I shall not stop any winnings." 

 Davies had, too, a shrewd sense of humour. In 

 1850 there lived in the Borough a sporting pawn- 



40 



