2 36 HORSERACING IN ENGLAND 



the odds to any amount, and are safe as the bank 

 to pay.' 



As regards the 'jockey ring,' its existence 

 seems to be problematical at present, if it ever 

 really existed at all. However, Sir G. Chetwynd, 

 in 1890, wrote an article in which he referred to 

 the subject — to the allegation of a ' confederacy 

 between certain jockeys, " professional backers," 

 and one or two bookmakers ' — and seemed to 

 think that there was ' something in it' But, 

 according to his own evidence in a certain 

 notorious case, he is placed in a somewhat 

 awkward dilemma if he accepts the statement of 

 the bookmaker whom he quotes, to the effect 

 that ' all the money goes into the pockets of a 

 few jockeys and their friends,' inasmuch as his 

 evidence seemed to show that he had made a 

 considerable annual income in his capacity of 

 ' backer,' 



To mere lovers of horse-racing as a sport, 

 however, the bare possibility of a 'jockey 

 ring' causes intolerable uneasiness, because such 

 a combination renders it doubtful whether the 

 result of a race ever shows what it is intended to 



