JJ7:0 SETS THE MARKET f 197 



they be so, seeing that over 160 horses maybe entered 

 for com^ietition, whilst a dozen of horses perhaps will 

 be supported to Avin considerable sums that may not 

 be entered. As illustratinir what the odds ouqht to 

 be, the case may be stated as follows : Horses entered, 

 i60; of which pretty heavily backed, 40; more or 

 less heavily backed, but not entered, say 15 ; ac- 

 cepted, 90 ; proportion of those heavily backed which 

 accepted, 15. 



The bookmakers, therefore, so far as the Cambridg.^.- 

 shire is concerned, have had 175 horses to work with, 

 forty of which (including the fifteen never entered) 

 must have laid a capital foundation for a proiitable 

 book on the termination of the race. Well, then, 

 under such circumstances, and in view of the above 

 figures, Avhat ought to be the initial odds ? in plain 

 language, how should the market be set to give in- 

 tending bettors fair play ? It looks on the face of the 

 case that even 100 to 1 would be nothing like a fair ofi'er, 

 considering that the horse which wins the race has 

 frequently started at long odds. If bettors were less 

 foolish, if the}'' had more brains than money, they 

 would refuse even 100 to 1 as the inkial odds for such 

 a race as the Cambridgeshire. According to a roug^h- 

 and ready estimate of the real odds, if there can bo 

 such a thing as real odds in the case, the initial price 

 against each horse, if not fixed at 200 to 1, should at 

 the least be fixed at the number of entries, taking for 

 guidance, say, the average number enteied in the five 

 preceding years ; say, by way of example, 160 to 1, a rate 

 of (initial) odds that would certainly not be excessive. 



In the matter of setting the market on big races, 



