BRITISH TURF. 619 



ways confine himself to merely "betting the odds ;" 

 for although he avoids backing a favorite, he does 

 not refuse to take "long odds" against such horses 

 as he fancies ; and here his judgment, knowledge 

 and experience come into play. It will often hap- 

 pen that an outsider on which he has taken the 

 odds at the rate, perhaps, of 25 to 1, say £1000 to 

 £40, when it first came into the market, will at 

 some period before the race, rise to be quoted with 

 only 4 to 1. This affords the bettor aa opportunity 

 of betting £250 to £1000, against it, in which po- 

 sition he risks nothing, but has a chance to win 

 £750. This part of betting is technically called 

 " hedging," and is thus described by Nimrod : — 

 " Let us then suppose A. beginning to make his 

 Derby book at the commencement of the new 

 year. B. bets him (about the usual odds) 20 to 1 

 against an out-sider, which A. takes in hundreds, 

 viz. 2,000 to 100. The out-sider improves ; he 

 comes out in the spring, and wins a race, and the 

 odds drop 10 to 1. A. bets 1000 to 100 against 

 him. He is now on velvet ; he cannot lose, and 

 may win 1000. In fact, he has £1000 in hand to 

 play with, which the alteration of the odds has 

 given him. But mark ! he is only playing with 

 it ; he may never pocket it, so he acts thus. The 

 out-sider (we will call him Repealer) comes out 

 again, wins another race, and the odds are only 5 

 to 1 against him ; A. bets 500 to 100 more against 

 him, and let us now see how he stands : 

 If Repealer wins, A. receives from B. £2000 



He pays to C. £1000 



Ditto to D. 500 



1500 



Balance in A's favour by Repealer's 



winning --- £500 



