1 82 THE BLUE RIBBON OF THE TURF. 



instrument of this particular gamble being a cele- 

 brated raco-horse of the period. His lordship on that 

 occasion lost his money, and was not slow to assert 

 that he had been 'done.' The occurrence was much 

 talked about, and assertions were made (probably with- 

 out much foundation in fact) that some persons 

 were implicated in the transaction from whom better 

 behaviour might have been expected. The hints 

 thrown out were, generally speaking, to the effect 

 that the race in question, if it had not been 'got up' 

 for his lordship, ended in the liorse backed by him 

 being made what in turf parlance is called a ' safe one.' 

 £10,000 was a nice plum to pluck, and would bear a 

 good deal of dividing. Many such events come under 

 the knowledge of bookmakers, and owners of horses 

 who associate with them for ' business ' purposes. 



It may be taken for granted by those who have 

 never ventured behind the scenes of turf speculation, 

 that the bookmaker, of the two, always knows more 

 than the backer. It must be so. The boolanaker is 

 constantly being inspired, even by those who come to 

 take the odds from him. When any of the big 

 handicaps are imminent, owners come to the book- 

 maker to back their horses. He hears from them the 

 strength of the trials which have taken place : Damon, 

 a three-year-old, he learns, is better thun Pythias, a 

 four-year-old, and as Pythias lately beat Castor in an 

 important race, he thus obtains a valuable clue to work 

 by ; no woijder he is alert in laying the odds against 

 CJastor and one or two other horses which he knows 

 have no chance of winning. Then again, as often as not, 

 he has ' dead ones ' to lay against — horses that might 



