72 THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER 



ride him myself ; when throwing open his coat, he 

 was found to be in racing attire, and mounting, won 

 without a struggle.' 



No doubt the bookmakers of that period often 

 found their calculations upset ; but, in the long-run, 

 they probably had very much the best of the bar- 

 gain, as they have now. 



Old John Day used to tell a capital joke of once 

 being victimised by ' gentlemen jocks ' at Bath. 

 'In a field of a dozen horses, he had one that he 

 knew to be so bad that he took the liberty of laying 

 the odds to a fifty-pound note against him, at fifteen 

 to one. It seemed the jocks had breakfasted to- 

 gether, and compared books (as became brethren 

 of some " Union Club "), which showed that all 

 the "cream" depended upon Honest John's horse 

 coming in first ; a result they of course readily 

 accomplished, being men of nous and education. 

 One bolting at the first favourable opportunity, with 

 three or four after him : some fell off, others 

 "pulled," till the self-" potted " Danebury nag came 

 in nearly by himself, every one profusely con- 

 gratulating his owner, who, besides the fifteen 

 fifties, had the police to pay for the meeting, and 

 ten dozen of champagne to the club for winning. 

 Honest John's countenance, when seeing his gentle- 

 man jock weighed, must have been rather a legible 

 index, and deeply instructive.' 



The tout of the present day can exercise a great 



