RACING ROGUERIES. 285 



the handicap can be won, and plenty of money 

 along with it. 



In the end its success is ensured, Pretty Jane 

 beating Artful Dodger, a rod in pickle prepared 

 by a quiet school of turfites for the same race, by 

 only a head ; " too near a thing to be pleasant," 

 as Lord Strapmore said after the struggle was 

 over, and the confederacy had obtained breathing 

 time for a glass of champagne and mutual con- 

 gratulations. Such schemes, it has to be said, are 

 not always successful ; but if a man can win a 

 couple of big handicaps in twenty years, he 

 requires nothing more in the way of turf success. 



The kind of business indicated in the fore- 

 going remarks is frequently attempted ; there is 

 a gentleman often at work, who is reputed to 

 have a voice in four or five stables, and that being 

 so he is able to prearrange, with considerable 

 success, a good deal of the turf work of the period. 



Few persons outside the pale of turf manipu- 

 lation can possibly be aware of how much money 

 it is possible to win over a big handicap or other 

 good betting race — the Cesarewitch, Cambridge- 

 shire, or Royal Hunt Cup, for example. Over 

 and over again such sums as thirty, fifty, and even 

 seventy thousand pounds have been "landed," 

 as the phrase goes, by the winner of a great race. 

 Sometimes a man is fortunate enough to find 

 himself in possession of a horse entered for one 

 of the popular handicaps that "cannot lose"; and 

 if the ability of the animal be only known to 

 himself and the trainer, he may be able, at the 

 risk of a few hundreds, to back it to win many 

 thousand pounds. 



