CHAPTER II 



THE FATHERS OF BOOKMAKING 



Everyone who knows anything of the Turf nowadays 

 will admit that the professional bookmakers are a respect- 

 able body of men. They are usually of a generous dis- 

 position, and liberal donors to charitable institutions. No 

 doubt there are some " wrong uns " among them, but there 

 is no flock without some black sheep, and I should say 

 that there are as few in the fraternity of bookmakers as 

 elsewhere. But it was not always thus. The fathers of 

 the " Betting Ring " were sharpers pure and simple, and the 

 name by which they generally went, " Blacklegs," shortened 

 subsequently into " legs," shows what the sporting world 

 thought of them. 



They were proficient at cards and billiards, besides being 

 well posted in Turf matters. Every one of them carried his 

 own loaded dice, and they made more money by plucking 

 pigeons at the gaming-tables than by laying odds on the 

 race-course. Yet many of them came into touch with the 

 best sportsmen of the day. On the Turf, at any rate, the 

 " leg's" money was as good as anyone else's. He was always 

 ready to lay odds, and he always paid up when he lost. 



One of the earliest and most successful of these " legs " 

 was the notorious Colonel O'Kelly, owner of the immortal 

 Eclipse. Dennis O'Kelly was an accomplished maker of 

 matches as well as a phenomenally successful breeder; but 

 there was a strong smack of the blackguard about him. 

 Originally a sedan-chair man, his elegant legs and fine 

 figure took a lady's fancy, and she started him in life as a 

 " jontleman." He, to be in harmony with his new position 

 in life, took to gambling, and at first was far from being 

 lucky. He had actually got hold of the lady's last ;^ioo, 



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