ASSUMED NAMES, ETC. 335 



stables, that the chief is but a cipher, and that the 

 trainer rules the roost. 



Some trainers, it is well known, bet only with 

 the cognisance of those for whom they train, that 

 is to say, if they think the horse has a good 

 chance of winning the race he has been entered 

 for Other trainers bet on their own behalf, either 

 personally or by the aid of a friend or a com- 

 missioner. The trainer of a horse which won the 

 Derby a few years ago was said to have risked 

 on his chance the enormous stake of ^7,000. 

 The case of Bob Leathers was much talked 

 about a few years since. He had two horses in 

 training for a big handicap for one owner. One, 

 the worse of the two, as Leathers well knew, was 

 at a short price, the other was at 20 to i. The 

 trainer piled the money on the non-favourite, 

 but the fact coming at length to the knowledge 

 of the owner, he quietly scratched both horses a 

 few days before the race, and Leathers and his 

 pals were left lamenting ; as all who knew the 

 particulars said, "It served them right." 



It is not the first occasion on which it has 

 been asked : " How curious it is that Mr. Bloom's 

 horses are always so unsteady in the market, 

 seeing that he never bets ! " The reply to such a 

 remark is likely to be : " Oh, but his trainer does, 

 and you know he and Binks, the bookmaker, are 

 almost always together." The inference is obvious. 

 Again, Mr. Trumper keeps a very large stud, and 

 pays his training bills with exemplary punctuality ; 

 but for all that Mr. Trumper is only the nominal 

 possessor of so many race-horses. Ted Rubyman, 

 the well-known turf commissioner, keeps the key 

 of the stable, and Mr. Trumper's horses only 



