I30 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



sporting element will not per1ia]:)s be less — perhaps 

 more — than £1,000 a year. 



Sporting writers have a hard task set them. They 

 are expected to be ' there or thereabouts ' on the occa- 

 sion of every great race, and many of them are called 

 upon to give ;'ips for the smaller everj^-day contests 

 as well, so that upon occasions, such as in Whitsun 

 Week, when there may be something like ten or a 

 dozen meetings, their resources are taxed to the utter- 

 most; and they must, too, be on their mettle, for at 

 these holiday- meetings there are thousands of people 

 who look to them for guidance and instruction in 

 making their bets. Tipsters on such occasions are 

 expected to work miracles on behalf of their clients, 

 and should they fail to name the winners of at least 

 two in every three races, they are stigmatized as hum- 

 bugs not worth following. Yet how is a tipster to 

 perform what is expected of him ? In many cases ho 

 has only the public form of the horses to guide him, 

 he is ignorant of the intentions of owners, and till the 

 last moment ' there is no market ' to show how the 

 cat intends to jump. No wonder it so often happens 

 that ' the tipsters are floored to a man.' Tried by the 

 results of their tips, tipsters as a rule are a failure. Not 

 that they do not on occasion make a palpable hit, 

 selecting sometimes two out of the first three in a great 

 handicap, but they don't pay to follow systematically. 

 That being so, it is not a little wonderful that their 

 'vaticinations,' as they call their writings, continue to 

 be so anxiously looked for and eagerly read. Anyone 

 desirous of backing horses for particular races may 

 easily discover for him.self all that is known about 



