286 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



V. 



"Working the oracle," with intent to make 

 a grand cottp, is work which requires to be 

 gone about with judgment ; but in a race where 

 twenty or more stables are represented it is 

 difficult to ensure success, there being always 

 somebody interested who will be obstinate, or 

 who demands too large a share of the spoil, or 

 insists upon some impossible condition. When 

 the Mr. Smooth of such an enterprise has made 

 some progress in his negotiations, he often 

 enough finds himself face to face with the repre- 

 sentative of another clique engaged in the same 

 business ; it is not, indeed, the first time that 

 three distinct syndicates have come into collision, 

 each fancying itself to hold the winning card. 

 Which is to give way to the other so as to make 

 the race a certainty for a given horse comes in at 

 the end to be a matter for much argument and 

 delicate handling. At their respective weights 

 it may look a very near thing for each of three or 

 four horses, and as an owner naturally fancies his 

 own horse most, he is usually reluctant to swim in 

 with any other person or clique, unless he becomes 

 of opinion that the doing so presents a certainty 

 of the horse winning. 



"In the matter of arranging a handicap," 

 said a gentleman of much experience to the 

 writer, " my arguments are simple enough. I 

 put the case this way. By agreeing among our- 

 selves we can land a first-rate stake, say sixty 

 thousand ; well, that is twenty thousand for each 

 of us when so far as I can see we have a certainty. 

 Is it not better, then, to co-operate } There will be 



