262 BETTING AS IT MIGHT BE, 
hounds through this system of nominations when no outsider 
knows which individual animal he may be backing, than there 
is on all the horses put together that may be engaged in 
hundreds of races at the same time. There must be a 
cause for this, and I think without much seeking a reason- 
able one may be assigned. It is this: there is no sufficient 
inducement to tempt the public to precede owners in the 
market to any extent, and the latter are thus enabled to 
back their nominations at a fair price, and the public follow. 
It will be noticed that more than half the quotations in 
this list are at or above forty to one, whilst in two instances 
the odds are 100 and 125 to I respectively. But were the 
greyhounds backed by name, and the tipster and tout on 
the guz vive to send their patrons the results of trials that 
never took place, and reports of greyhounds that are ill 
as being well, and of others that are as fit as fiddles as being 
broken down (as is the current practice of those who do 
this kind office for the patrons of the turf), it may safely 
be affirmed that not a moiety of these odds would be 
obtainable. 
The system as pursued with coursing puts the public on 
a fair footing. For it (the public) has discrimination enough 
to see that no one besides those immediately connected with 
the greyhounds, can know which dog would represent a certain 
nomination ; and therefore will not be cajoled and induced 
to act on the doubtful reports of paid agents: who must 
say something or they will fail to impress a sense of their 
importance on their employers. After the draw, any and 
all may legitimately bet to their heart’s content ; whilst 
1 We see in print horses represented as being well and worth backing that 
actually have been dead some time. This may be sheer ignorance in most cases, 
but the result is the same : to enrich the bookmakers at the expense of the public. 
