250 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



apparently an undoubted victim of the " legs," 

 who never tired of betting the odds against his 

 chance of winning the race. All comers were 

 readily accommodated, so that in the course of a 

 few weeks, to the great astonishment of his trainer 

 and owner, tens of thousands were industriously 

 laid against Jerry's chance of winning. 



That Ridsdale was the undoubted engineer of 

 the opposition was in due time discovered ; and 

 that he had found out, as he thought, a way of 

 makino; Mr. Gascoio^ne's colt a "safe one" came 

 to be known. The trainer of the horse, as the 

 fierce market opposition to it progressed, naturally 

 enough became suspicious of foul play, and in 

 consequence watched the course of the betting 

 with feverish anxiety, but only to find, as the day 

 for the decision of the race waxed nearer, that 

 this colt was being more and more " peppered " 

 by a certain clique of betting men. Croft could 

 discover nothing wrong at home — all his people 

 appeared to be acting an honest part. The 

 anxiety of the perplexed trainer was all the 

 greater, because by his recommendation the 

 owner of Jerry and many of his friends had 

 backed the horse to win big stakes. The opposi- 

 tion to a horse's chance of winning an important 

 race which finds voice in the betting ring is 

 usually of great significance, because shrewd men 

 do not bet against a horse to lose thousands 

 without knowing what they are about. 



In the case of the opposition to the St. Leger 

 hero of 1824, the trainer of Jerry was happily 

 able, almost at the eleventh hour, to solve the 

 vexatious problem. Having visited the sub- 

 scription rooms on the Monday before the race, 



