AND OTHEE SKETCHES 51 



luck, tliey hadn't nerve enough left to back a race horse 

 against a mule. 



On the last day a ray of sunshine illumined the gloom 

 by the victory of Jack Vandal in the Montreal Hotel 

 Stakes, and the success of Fisher and Carson's Neptunus 

 in the Flash Stakes, but the long odds in their favor 

 choked off all speculation. Thus closed one of the most 

 disastrous meetings for backers of favorites I ever re- 

 member to have been at. The only winners were those 

 who bought the cheap ones, tickets not bought on judg- 

 ment, but purchased simply because they were cheap. 

 Many were the drafts drawn to make good in the box 

 and equally numerous were the long faces that were 

 drawn as the proceeds were paid out. 



