294 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



has a horse good enough to win the Derby, or 

 the Royal Hunt Cup, or some other important 

 race, big Brassy, the bookmaker, has no hesitation 

 in laying freely against the "hon. gent's" colt, 

 because Twinkleton dare not run unless Brassy 

 please ; and unless it suits Brassy that it should 

 run and try, Brassy won't please, because the 

 honourable but impecunious gentleman being due 

 the bookmaker a couple of thousands, he cannot 

 do as he pleases in the matter of running his 

 horses under pain of cashing up or being exposed. 

 No wonder, therefore, that Antelope, the Honour- 

 able Tom's horse, is so well beaten in its trial the 

 week before the race that it is scratched — much to 

 the consternation of its backers, it being second 

 favourite at 9 to 2. But big Brassy is not un- 

 generous, he puts the Honourable Tom on the 

 winner, and the honourable gent nominally wins a 

 couple of monkeys (^1,000), one of which is paid 

 to him, the other being placed to his credit. 

 Your shrewd bookmaker likes to play with his 

 fish, an "honourable" must be tenderly handled, 

 because he has many friends ; and it is to the 

 interest of a " metallician " to keep sweet with 

 young "swells" even although they are bad 

 payers. 



The " mercenaries of the turf," of whom there 

 are many hundreds, owners and bettors, do almost 

 anything to obtain money ; they will practise all 

 the tricks which have been described, as well as 

 others of a still more questionable sort, they will 

 submit to any degradation in order to earn a few 

 hundred pounds. In conjunction with a dis- 

 honourable trainer they will permit their horses 

 to win or lose false trials, or pull, or poison, or 



