SIXTY YEARS ON THE TURF 



£50 to £5 from Morris and a similar bet from 

 Nichol. I was standing close by the last-named, 

 and asked, " What has he done, Billy ? " 



*' Oh, you know d d well what he's done. I've 



laid him 50 to 5 against your ' boiler.' " 



"I'll take 100 to 10," I answered. 



" No, thank you. Not for me ! " 



Morris, who overheard us, thinking a coup was 

 intended, soon covered his little bit, and added to 

 it ; and Billy Nichol sent all over the Ring to back 

 the horse. By this means he w^as kept nicely in the 

 market, which was exactly what I wanted. I 

 watched the race by the side of Billy Nichol, and 

 saw that John Davis ran remarkably well — so well 

 indeed that Billy called out, "You'll win, Hodge! 

 You'll win ! " 



" I hope I may," I said. But the want of con- 

 dition told its inevitable tale, and he died away up 

 the hill. 



What I had noticed told me that John Davis 

 retained his action to the full, and was a bit too 

 good for haystack training; so he was sent off to 

 Telscombe, and I entered him in the Cesare witch 

 in Mr. Stonehewer's name. On the afternoon the 

 weights came out I was at the club, and Bill Mundy 

 read out the lists for the Cesarewitch and the 

 Cambridgeshire. After he had finished I said to 



217 



