20 
THE HORSE. 
THE RACE-HORSE. 
prey of tradespeople and others, who are foolish enough to draw in this lottery of many blanks. But the grand performers in the 
play are a very different class of persons. These gentlemen have risen far beyond the vulgar honours of the Sporting House. They 
U ,\ 0 the thing” on a princely scale, and can exhibit “ Books” enough to make a “ royal merchant ’ stare. 
The principal of the present “ extensive operators on the betting market,” as Mr Whyte gently terms them, are, it seems, 
Messrs Theobald, Bland, Bond, Robinson of Manchester, Holliday, Justice, Geeatoeex, Wakefield.* Of the kinds 
of persons who, in the deep lottery of the turf, are able to rise with the wheel of fortune, the following graphic sketch, from the 
pen of Mr Appebley, the most learned, useful, and happy writer on this class of subjects, will convey an idea. “ Of the public racing 
men at Newmarket, Messrs Ceockfobd, Gully, Ridsdale, Sadleb, the Chifneys, &c„ we need not say much, their deeds being 
almost daily before us. But looking at the extraordinary results of these men’s deeds, who will not admit racing to be the best trade 
goino ? Talk of studs, talk of winnings, talk of racing establishments! Our Gbaftons, Richmonds, Pob plans, and Cleve¬ 
lands, with all their means and pliances to boot, are but the beings of a summer’s day when compared with those illustrious per¬ 
sonage! and their various transactions and doings on the turf. Here is a small retail tradesman dealing in a very perishable com¬ 
modity, become our modem Croesus in a few years, and proprietor of several of the finest houses in England! Behold the champion 
of the boxing-ring, the champion of the turf, the proprietor of a noble domain, an honourable member of the Reformed Parliament, 
all in the person of a Bristol butcher! Turn to a great proprietor of coal-mines, the owner of the best stud in England, one 
who gives 3000 guineas for a horse, in the comely form of a Yorkshire foot-man! We have a quondam Oxford livery-stable 
keeper, with a dozen or more race-horses in his stalls, and those of the very best stamp, and such as few country gentlemen, or 
indeed’any others, have a chance to contend with. By their father’s account of them, the two Messrs Chifney were stable boys 
to Eael Geosvenob at eight guineas a-year and a stable suit. They are now owners of nearly the best horses, and, save Mr 
Cbockfobd’s, quite the best houses in their native town. There is the son of the ostler of the Black Swan at York, betting his 
thousands on the heath, his neckerchief secured by a diamond pin. Then, to crown all, there is Squire Beabdswobth of Bir¬ 
mingham, with his seventeen race-horses, and his crimson liveries, in the same loyal but dirty town in which he once drove a 
hackney coach.” 
If the institution of the turf is to he preserved to the people of England, it is manifest that means must be used to ree it 
from the taint and scandal which are now attached to it. In a country where the civil and moral relations of men in society are 
deemed worthy of regard, it is impossible that a system, based on deception, founded on the corruption of the humbler instruments 
employed, and methodized into a course of public plunder, can be suffered to remain engrafted on the pastimes of the people. 
Here is no question of a wretched gambling-house to be put down, of a petty culprit for some miserable game of chances to be 
rendered amenable to penal statutes, but of a system of wholesale fraud, carried on by troops of plunderers in the face of day, 
supported by funds of incredible amount, and spreading the poison of a dangerous example through the medium of public sports. 
Is this a matter to be left to the conventional regulations of clubs, and to the inconsiderable powers of stewards of race-courses? 
The matter, we say, is one of public concern, involving results affecting national character, and public decency and morals; and 
if these popular sports are to be preserved at all, it is the imperative duty, too long neglected, of the legislative powers to provide 
for their fitting control. Can anything be more monstrous than that, when harsh laws are levelled against humble sports, a system 
of gambling, unequalled for foul dealing in any country in the world, is suffered to take root in the heart of society, without a 
single check to its utmost abuse? Can the continued contact of such contamination be without its effects on the moral feelings of 
the people ? Can the youth of the country come safely within the poisoned atmosphere of the betting-room, and learn that men 
may, without reproach, rise to affluence by the basest arts? Can the gentlemen of England maintain the honour of their rank 
while wir i ng in the pursuits of felons, and sharing a dishonest spoil? Few lessons, let us be assured, are more dangerous to 
the people than that of successful fraud: And woe it is to a country, when men are taught to look lightly on offences which 
touch the principles of honest dealing. Excessive public gambling, under any circumstances, is perhaps to be regretted; but 
when it is fraudulent at the same time, it calls for all the punishment which laws tempered with mercy can inflict on thieves and 
swindlers. It may be'said that it would be difficult to reach this class of offences ; and so it is to reach the crimes of forgery and 
other secret acts against society; but ought the laws therefore to sleep, and allow the plunderer to carry off the spoil in safety? 
It cannot be doubted that a system of law vigilantly executed, applicable to the concerns of the turf, would quickly abate the 
exis tin g evils, and restore this popular sport to at least its former character. This is not the place to enter on so wide and delicate 
a subject. A parliamentary inquiry would seem to be the most suitable course, the effect of which would be to expose the full 
degree of the evil, and suggest the fitting remedies. All men who abhor fraud and value public decency should support such an 
* Whyte’s History of the Turf. 
