244 KINGSCLERE 



question. Now, it is quite certain he could not have 

 seen the horse himself, the horse never having left 

 the stable, therefore the report must have been 

 framed from information received from my lads. 

 Is it right that a trainer cannot leave home for a few 

 days without having his boys tampered with by a 

 resident tout ? Many a good supporter of the Turf 

 has left it in disgust through the systematic touting 

 of himself, his trainer, and his stable-boys. In my 

 opinion the gentlemen who spend large sums in 

 training race-horses, and thus cater for the amuse- 

 ment of the public, deserve protection from this 

 annoyance. 



1 " It is all very well for the editors of sporting 

 papers publishing training intelligence to say that 

 they do not encourage or countenance such under- 

 hand proceedings. They cannot avoid it, as we all 

 know the class of men employed to send training 

 reports — men (with few exceptions) too lazy to work 

 for an honest livelihood." 



' The Hon. Francis Lawley, who, I am grateful 

 to say, has often been a supporter of my views, 

 endorsed my opinion of the tout's tampering with 

 one of my stable-boys, and of course was denounced 

 for his pains. In a letter signed "A Backer of 

 Horses" (as the man says in "A Pair of Spec- 

 tacles," " Aw know that Backer of Horses — he 

 comes fra Sheffield!") it was set forth that the 

 "communications of trainers betray a degree of 

 selfishness and narrow-mindedness almost border- 

 ing on the ridiculous," and — of course the writer 



