My Racing Adventures 



one of the chief conspirators busy in the pigskin. 

 On that occasion " J.B." beat "Charles III." at 

 7 lb., and " Charles III." was capable of winning 

 a hurdle race with 12 st. 7 lb. on his back. Here 

 was surely something good enough to bet on till 

 the cows came home wagging their tails behind 

 them. Please to note, gentle reader, the terrible 

 consequence of our enterprise : it is worth your 

 while. 



We ran both the horses named in a hurdle 

 race at Kempton, "Charles III.," with 12 st. 

 3 lb., and "J.B." with 10 st. I rode the latter, 

 who was our selected champion, and — oh, the 

 pity of it ! — he was emphatically " down the 

 course." " Charles III.," ridden by young " Bob " 

 Adams, now training abroad, was only beaten by 

 a head. The secret of that shock to our nerves 

 was that "J.B." would not do his best in public. 

 He was not (what is termed) a "terrier in the 

 pit," not strenuous in actual combat, and there 

 are many others like him. They can catch 

 pigeons at home and flats abroad. Brought 

 into the arena, they are ready to throw up their 

 sponge before an effective blow is struck, before 

 there is a drop of blood on it ; they begin to 

 " funk " — what it is to have a classical education ! 

 — ere their jockey steals up to them hand in 



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