RACING ADVENTURERS. 227 



at both ends ; by doing that I made a bit, and 

 so was all ready when bigger chances came to 

 hand to make the most of them." 



When the job he was engaged on at New- 

 market was finished, Davis came back to London 

 with what he called a tidy pocketful of money, 

 as much as fifty-seven pounds, the fruit of his 

 economy and industry. Having thrown up his 

 work at Cubitt's, he with the sum named began 

 business as a bookmaker, and succeeded from 

 the beginning. His first great hit was made on 

 the " Two Thousand Guineas." Having obtained 

 reliable information about the chance of Sir 

 Tatton Sykes for the race in question, he backed 

 that horse to win, taking care at the same time 

 to lay against as many of the other horses 

 engaged in the contest as his customers would 

 back. The money he made on this occasion 

 amounted to a considerable sum, the possession 

 of which enabled him to extend his business 

 and also to bet in bigger sums. Hitherto he had 

 very rarely laid the odds to half-a-sovereign, but 

 after Sir Tatton's victory he ventured to bet 

 sovereigns, and by doing so increased his store 

 not rapidly but steadily. 



A friend of Davis' was wont to relate that 

 it was in consequence of a dream he backed 

 Sir Tatton. Falling asleep one Sunday after- 

 noon, he fancied he was reading a newspaper, 

 and that its tip for the Guineas, in large letters, 

 was " Sir Tatton Sykes first" ; that he read quite 

 plain, but the names of the placed horses being 

 blurred he could not make them out. Thinking 

 little of his vision, he went about his work on 

 Monday as usual, but, singularly enough, on 



Q 2 



