254 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



In that year's Derby there would probably be half- 

 a-dozen horses which might have proved more 

 or less dangerous to St. Giles ; but by some 

 means or other — money, in fact — the owners 

 of these animals, or their trainers or jockeys, 

 would be gained over by the confederacy, at 

 a cost, perhaps, for the half-dozen, of some 

 twenty or five-and-twenty thousand pounds. As 

 a matter of course, St. Giles had been used 

 simply as an instrument of gambling ; as a two- 

 year-old, his quality as a race-horse had been 

 hidden by his having undoubtedly been " pulled " 

 in his earlier races, so that when the day of 

 his victory arrived, the odds against his chance 

 might be large enough to make it worth the 

 while of his owner to let him run. 



Margrave, the St, Leger winner, as has been 

 stated, ran fourth in the Derby ; but probably 

 that horse was good enough to have won the 

 Epsom trophy, had St. Giles not been on duty ; 

 but, had it done so, the odds aQ^ainst its winnino- 

 the St. Leger would not have been anything 

 like 8 to I, the price quoted at the start for 

 the great Doncaster trophy. By the success 

 of Margrave another large stake was won by 

 the confederates ; the amount has been variously 

 estimated at from forty to ninety thousand pounds. 

 Some time after the decision of this event, 

 a quarrel ensued between the partners, which 

 brought their connection with each other to 

 an end. 



The affair was somewhat of a cause cdebre 

 in its day, but may be dismissed in a few words. 

 It would appear, from what was made public 

 at the time, that Ridsdale had insinuated he 



