346 THE JOCKEY CLUB 



rally, it must be acknowledged, in vain) to swell their 

 revenues by winning the money which ' the Eing ' has 

 collected from more or less questionable sources. 



That Ring, which it was the bounden duty of the 

 Jockey Club, if they took upon themselves to be the 

 Fathers and Governors of the Turf, to discourage at 

 its first formation, and break up, as far as possible, 

 when once it was formed, they have encouraged, 

 accommodated, and even now accept as a great 

 convenience and a blessing. Yet what, in the opinion 

 of the Club, is the greatest evil on the face of the 

 earth? A 'tout.' And what bred the 'tout'? 

 Trials — the severe ones — for which a trial-horse is 

 sometimes borrowed. And what necessitates such 

 trials, which break down perhaps more great horses 

 (like Velocipede and many another) than the races 

 themselves ? Betting ; the desire to anticipate the 

 result of a race, and, with the knowledge supposed to 

 be thus acquired (supposed, be it said advisedly, for 

 the trial may be, and — almost as often as not — is, 

 illusive) to ' get the money on.' And whence comes 

 the money which a member of the Jockey Club wins, 

 if he should win ? From the Eing. And whence 

 does the money which the Eing pays come ? Partly, 

 no doubt, from members of the Jockey Club and 

 gentlemen of their class, but partly — shall we say 

 mostly ? — from what Lord Suffolk and Berkshire 

 correctly calls ' the perennial stream of the savings, 

 the stealings, or the superfluities of the backing 



