vi AN EXERCISE GALLOP TO BEGIN WITH. 



newspapers contain full accounts of the race meetings, 

 and also publish weekly commentaries on the sport 

 at considerable length, the reading of which tends 

 to excite interest and provoke inquiry regarding the 

 incidence of " the turf" 



" Pray, Mr. Curzon," said once upon a time a 

 worthy lady to the writer, *' what kind of horses 

 are these which I notice are being milked on the 

 turf, and what becomes of the milk ? " The ignorance 

 of that most respectable female, and her excellent 

 husband as well, to whom she had previously pro- 

 pounded the same riddle, is undoubtedly shared by 

 thousands, and it is for the edification of these and 

 other thousands who have never seen behind the 

 mirror that this book has been written. 



It will, perhaps, be thought by some persons 

 that the dark side of things is too much dwelt upon 

 in the following pages, that too much is said about 

 the frauds and chicaneries of the turf, and too little 

 about the brighter aspects of the sport, but it must 

 be borne in mind that racing has unfortunately be- 

 come a " business " of the most sordid kind ; the 

 majority of the men engaged in the "sport" run 

 their horses only as "instruments of gambling," whilst 

 not a few of them to ensure success condescend to 

 practices that will not bear the light of day. The 

 turf gambling of the period has become enormous, 

 but iQ.\N outside the range of racing circles have 

 hitherto had much knowledge of the immense amount 

 of money which changes hands day by day in the 

 various betting rings, or in the numerous turf clubs 



