My Racing Adventures 



backing them represents a shorter cut thither, so 

 long as one is able to maintain a respectable 

 average, and is not "pinched" unduly in the 

 price. 



Yet, in the course of my variegated riding 

 adventures at home and abroad, I have never 

 sought to obtrude the sordid view. Pictures of 

 destitution in embryo or in disguise have not 

 haunted my mind, I have enjoyed the sport for 

 its own sake, my heart has been in the work, I 

 have always been very fond of riding ; and if it 

 happened occasionally, in this country or that, 

 that I did not receive what I thought I deserved 

 — how many of us are in the same boat, going 

 down, maybe, for the last time ! — I have never 

 made any particular outcry. It is no use weep- 

 ing bitterly when the man with the money-bags 

 has turned the corner at a furious pace. And an 

 old jockey told me the other day that if he had 

 been paid all his riding fees, he would now be 

 one of the most opulent burghers in his cottage 

 community. 



Yes, I have had mine ; there is nothing owing, 

 and they do not form an unpleasant reminiscence. 

 I have had plenty of fun for my money, even if 

 I have not plenty of money now. The saddle 

 has been one of the best and most profitable seats 



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