THE HORSE. 
17 
THE RACE-HORSE. 
keep the mind in action. We need no more inquire why a man acquires a love for the race-course than for the chase, for 
travelling, or for active occupation of any kind. The machinery of human thought, it seems, must not be allowed to rust from inac¬ 
tion, and those who would limit its movements in any single course assuredly manifest an ignorance of human nature. What is 
termed amusement can no more be excluded from the category of human pursuits than the occupations of business, of philosophy, 
or of all the graver objects which occupy the mind, and which, as society advances, become more multiplied and varied. One 
of the sternest of ancient moralists declares that the man who has no time to be idle is a slave \ but the idleness of which he 
speaks is not that of the mind, but the diversion of thought to another class of objects. Limiting our reflections to the condition 
of society which exists in this country, it were as foolish as vain to seek to restrict within too narrow a sphere the pleasures of the 
people. If they are rudely restrained within one channel, they may take another less favourable to private happiness, to public 
morals, and to national character. The horse-race has been a pastime of the people of England from ancient times, has superseded 
many rude and cruel sports, and has attained a refinement in accordance with the spirit of a more cultivated age, and it may be 
questioned if there is any one pursuit in the class of what are called public amusements, which, with so little prejudice to the character 
of the people, is calculated to produce so great a degree of interest and relaxation. It will be said that the system is tainted with 
the spirit of gambling and play. Would that it were less so ! but the fact admitted does not invalidate the fair conclusions which 
may be drawn. The love of gain cannot be truly said to be the primary end of those who delight in this gay and animating spec¬ 
tacle. The bet is but the test of skill with respect to the issue; and the nature of the pleasure derived from success is not altered 
because the guerdon is a purse of gold and not an olive crown. If the gain is acquired, the loss is as freely hazarded. Will it be 
said that the whole is a game of chances, and therefore immoral ? This sour morality has as yet found favour in no age of man¬ 
kind. If the principle were admitted that gain is unlawful when derived from a calculation of probable results, we must interrupt 
not only the pastimes but the business of mankind. We must close the stock exchange, proscribe assurance companies, and stay 
every freighted vessel that quits our shores on a voyage of adventure. The objection, we think, can scarcely be to the principle of 
the system of betting, as connected with the chances of the turf, but to the extent to which it is carried, and the abuses which ac¬ 
company it. The sums hazarded indeed are large, but these must be measured in some sort by the wealth of the community and 
the usages of society. It does not appear that, in any kind of games, the greatness of the stake is a serious evil. Experience 
would rather lead to the conclusion that it is the reverse, as it affects the character and feelings of the parties concerned; and if 
at the race-course large sums are won, corresponding sums are lost, and the general balance is not greatly affected. With respect 
to the abuses of the system of the course, these indeed are many, but all of these are not necessarily inherent in the system of 
the course. Persons make the business of the turf an engine of gambling; but it must be remembered that gambling is not 
confined to the turf, and that the same persons who gamble on the chances of a horse winning or losing at a race, will gamble on 
the chances of a dye, or of any other contingency that presents itself. The gamblers of the Athenaeum, who scarcely know a 
horse from a cow, would, if horse-races were abolished to-morrow, find subjects equally suited to their purposes. It is not found 
that gambling is less extended in countries where the race-course is unknown; nor does it seem that morality in these countries 
would suffer if the hazard were on the winning of horses in place of on the chances of cards or the turning of dice. 
But unhappily the abuses of the turf are of no trivial kind, and may excuse the severest scrutiny. These abuses have 
attained a magnitude which the world will find it difficult to credit, and have been combined with a system of methodized 
villany and plunder, which, if not counteracted by all the power which can be employed, must, at no distant time, banish 
this noble pastime from the sports of the people of England, and drive away from its contamination its most honourable sup¬ 
porters. The system of betting, as applied to this amusement, it is to be observed, is of great complexity, involving calcula¬ 
tions on the chances, not only of the winning, but of the losing horses, and on a variety of contingencies distinct from the 
chances of a horse winning or losing by the exercise of its powers. Often when bets have been taken on the winning or losing of 
a horse, contingencies may arise to affect the result in a manner unseen. A horse that has been one day a favourite, and largely 
backed, may on the following one have his chances of winning reduced to nothing. The person who bets watches the turn in the 
odds as a stockbroker watches the changes in the market, and avails himself of these by such a system of betting and counter- 
betting, as throws the most expert calculations of the Stock Exchange into the shade, and would do credit to the most skilful cal¬ 
culator of chances. A man, for example, begins to “ make his Book,” as it is termed, at the new year, on the Derby, the Oaks, 
and other great stakes. The nominations have taken place when the colts were a year old, and consequently many of them 
die before the day of running, and many of them turn out good for nothing on trial; and of a hundred or more entered, only 
twenty may start. Now, reflecting on the vast variety of contingencies here called into play, until the horses appear at the 
starting-post, we may imagine what a curious complication this Book must present, and how much of skill it must demand to 
place the bets in the most favourable position to gain, or to avoid loss. How often does it become necessary to “ hedge” when a 
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