192 THE SPORTING WORLD. 



This makes the very wide difference between 

 the racing man who keeps horses and also bets, 

 and he who is a better only. To him who has 

 a horse in the race it is a matter of vital import- 

 ance to ascertain why the odds have changed 

 if changed they have. To him it is of the 

 first import to know whether it will be a fast 

 run race or not, for this may make all the 

 difference between his having a fair chance of 

 winning, or not the ghost of one. A perfect 

 judgment as regards racing and race horses is 

 as necessary to him as the clear calculation of 

 odds is to the better. 



We cannot but regard both of them as 

 faulty characters. But in charity let each be 

 allowed such palliative points as exist in his 

 pursuit. Let not the sporting man be reproba- 

 ted without mercy, and among a certain set 

 without one to do him justice and to weigh 

 his character fairly. It may be that with 

 his redeeming qualities in one scale and his 



