BOOI'MAKING. 1S3 



■u'in the race but avIU not run, or if they do, will not 

 for some reason be permitted to do their best. It is 

 any odds, under such circumstances, against the every- 

 day backer — he is bound to fail. He may, as the 

 saying goes, ' tumble ' to the situation in the end, and 

 so save him.self by finding the pea ; but it is vain to 

 fight against the bookmaker, who has many un- 

 suspected agencies at work to supplj' him with infor- 

 mation ; he knows, often enough before the owner of 

 the animal himself, when a horse has been beaten in 

 its trial or has broken down at exercise, and is prompt 

 on all such occasions to make quick use of his 

 knowledge. Many a time does the poor backer crow 

 at having, as he thinks, got good odds to his stake, 

 but in the end the bookmaker has all the profit. 



