196 NEWMARKET 



some big race to come ; but suddenly a peculiar 

 creaking is heard, and a frame rises above the 

 building next to the trainers' stand, with the num- 

 bers of the horses starting, and the names of 

 jockeys. There is then a dead silence for a 

 minute or so, whilst people are marking their 

 cards, and next a perfect storm of " four to one, 

 bar one ! " or whatever the odds may be, rises 

 from the ring, deafening and utterly bewilder- 

 ing the novice. This storm lasts, if it is not a 

 heavy betting race, not only until the horses are 

 at the post, but even as they are running, and some 

 insane individuals actually offer to bet as to what 

 horse has won after they have passed the post. 

 But if there has been heavy betting a dead silence 

 is maintained in the ring from the time the horses 

 get to the starter until they have passed the post ; 

 this was most remarkably illustrated on the last 

 Cambridgeshire day. From the time the horses got 

 to the starting-post until the race was finished, 

 though there was a delay of three-quarters of an 

 hour, owing to some of the horses repeatedly break- 

 ing away, not a sound was heard in the ring ; the 

 silence was almost oppressive. Sometimes when 

 a complete outsider wins, whose name has never 

 been written down by the book-makers, the more 

 excitable of them throw up their hats and cheer 



