298 A MIRROR OF THE TURF. 



set for the race, and talks over the chances of the 

 various horses, asking the state of the odds, etc. 

 By-and-by his " pal " arrives with the news, but 

 he says nothing, he simply sits down, wiping his 

 forehead or blowing his nose as the case may be. 

 This is the signal agreed upon, and the confederate 

 in a most nonchalant manner says : " Very well, 

 then, Bill, I'll just have a couple of sovs. on Busy- 

 bee for a win, and a couple on Clarion for a shop." 

 The bookmaker, knowing^ his client has never 

 quitted the room, suspects nothing, but takes the 

 money and enters the bet. In ten minutes after- 

 wards the official message comes in : " Busybee, 

 first; Mussulman, second ; Clarion, third." Such 

 practices, it is said, are common enough. 



VII, 



Turf chicanery finds a wide field in the execu- 

 ting of what are called "stable commissions," a 

 fact which can be best illustrated by narrating a 

 typical case. 



Mr. Salisbury Moor, having been informed 

 by his trainer that his horse, Fatcheeks, had won 

 a very excellent trial for an important handicap, 

 resolved in consequence, in conjunction with 

 Bill Gaiters, his trainer, to back his animal to 

 win the odds to ^300 ; the odds against the horse 

 (there being three in the same stable, each thought 

 to have a better chance than Fatcheeks) being at 

 the time nominally 66 to i. Gripely — "Bill 

 Gripely," a well-known and smart " man of affairs " 

 in racing matters — was duly instructed to invest 

 the money at the best price at which it could be 

 got on. While that commission was being exe- 



