246 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



By the year 1827 Gully's business had so 

 flourished that he was able to purchase for ^4,200 

 (then a large sum to pay for a horse) the winner 

 of that year's Blue Ribbon of the turf — Mameluke, 

 the property of Lord Jersey. The horse was 

 bought with a view to winning the St. Leger, 

 and the transactions made by Gully on behalf 

 of his purchase afford a glimpse of the betting 

 figures of that period. As soon as the bargain 

 had been effected between Lord Jersey and 

 himself, Gully requested that it should not be 

 made known till he had obtained a good oppor- 

 tunity of backing the horse for the great race 

 of September (the St. Leger), which he was 

 enabled to do at Ascot. At that famous race 

 meeting he accepted the odds of 10 to i 

 against his horse to the tune of ^1,000, thus 

 standing to win ^10,000 if his horse should 

 prove victorious at Doncaster. Not contented, 

 however, with that considerable speculation, 

 Mr. Gully made several other bets, as, for 

 instance, one that Mameluke would beat ten 

 horses (in the St. Leger), which horses he at 

 once named ; likewise that his colt would beat 

 a lot of nine horses in the same race — these 

 he also, of course, named. All three bets were 

 made for the same amounts, namely, ^10,000 

 to ^1,000, and in the end they had to be paid 

 by Mr. Gully, as, unfortunately for him, the 

 name of Matilda, the horse which won the 

 St. Leger of 1827, was written in both lists, so 

 that after the St. Leger had been run he found 

 he had a sum of ^3,000 to pay, every penny 

 of which was duly handed over — two-thirds 

 of it to Crockford — on the day of reckoning. 



