212 THE TURF 



bookmaker offers him lOO to 12, and he takes it or 

 else refuses it and tries for 10 to i elsewhere, as the 

 case may be. Possibly the bookmaker offers 12 to i, 

 in which case the backer closes at once, but this is not 

 a frequent experience if he has expected lo's. Fail- 

 ing, it may be, to get his 10 to i, the backer takes 

 TOO to 12 ; the price is quoted in the papers ; others, 

 who have fancied the horse, see that it is being 

 backed, accept the price, and, if there is much demand 

 from various quarters, the odds speedily shorten 

 according to the money there may be for it. Possibly 

 the first bet was a stable commission, or was made 

 by some one who acted on good advice ; if so, the 

 fact soon becomes known, and the price may speedily 

 grow very short indeed. Possibly, on the other hand, 

 the backer "thought he knew something" when he 

 did not ; "the stable" have no intention of backing 

 the horse, and it drifts out for lack of support while 

 something else is presently introduced, to shorten 

 or lengthen in price according to circumstances — 

 shortening speedily, as a rule, because many persons 

 back it for no other reason than that " it seems to 

 be backed," and lengthening gradually because it is 

 to the interest of the ring to lay the shortest prices 

 that any one will take. 



Sometimes, it is shrewdly suspected, if owners and 

 the public are slow in "making a market," the ring 

 give them a lead by booking imaginary wagers, which 

 are quoted in the papers. Those, then, who do 



