FINANCIAL ASPECTS OF THE RACE. 33 



second, and, say £800 or more to the third horse, 

 owners would doubtlei-s Iiave less hesitation in trying 

 to get ' a shop.' 



The case of the second horse in the Derby is 

 frequently a hard one — a very hard case indeed. As 

 the saying goes, it may just be ' beaten by the skin of 

 its teeth,' because of a bad start, or from being 

 cannoned against in the race, or in consequence of 

 inferior jockeyship, or from some other cause ; and 

 many a time, as sportsmen know, the second horse is 

 better th-m the horse which wins the race, therefore 

 the petty allowance so often made to the owner of the 

 animal which comes in second in such a race as the 

 Derby forms a poor reward for the anxieties that 

 Lave attended its career since it was entered for the 

 famous race, for which it has very likely been specially 

 retained and trained. Another factor in the situation 

 may also be alluded to: the owner is sure to sufEor 

 from the form of his horse having been exposed — an 

 animal which has run second or third in a Derby, 

 Oaks or St. Leijer, is certain to attract the attention of 

 handicappers, and to be well ' looked after ' in the 

 weights of such events as his owner may enter it 

 for. 



Another reason why owners do not usuall}^ care to 

 have their horses ' placed,' is the contemptible rate of 

 odds offered by bookmakers against horses that 

 might be backed for places — the odds laid against 

 any horse for a 'shop' have seldom the slightest re- 

 lation to the price offered for a win : the one quotation 

 may be 50 to 1, the other 5 to 1. But when hand- 

 some allowances come to be made to the owners of 



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