“Our jockeys are having a hard time, in a way, inasmuch as they
are being kept under the closest surveillance by Pinkerton
detectives. They are practically caged off from the public, are
escorted to the scales and paddock, are not allowed to speak to
any one except an employer, and then only when mounting, and
their valets must wear a distinctive uniform, with numbers on
their sleeves. This is reform with a vengeance, and by no means
agreeable to some of our young swells, who are also shadowed
after the races.”
“_By sports like these are all their cares beguiled!_”
Was Goldsmith a prophet?
It is not always easy to remember that the professed aim of the Jockey
Club is “the furtherance of the breeding and preservation of the
English thoroughbred horse.”
Yet to-day the officers of foreign armies buy Australian walers. They
won’t purchase English stallions. I belong to the “_Cercle Privée
civil et militaire_” of Bruges, a great military centre. Every day the
General commanding the district and his staff are in the Club. They
tell me that English horses are no longer looked upon as they were
upon the Continent.
Does not this “_give one furiously to think_,” as my friend the
General said here the other morning? Doping in the interests of the
gambling market seems to be beginning to tell!
The gambling industry is organized with consummate skill and great
business capacity.
Gambling by post is almost incredibly upon the increase. In Middleburg
and Flushing there are twelve huge betting firms. One person employs
ninety people in his office, and has his own printing establishment,
which is always glutted with work.
Often £1000 is received by one firm in a single day--nearly all in
small bets, and all from England. The post-offices of Dutch towns of
the size of Middleburg or Flushing normally keep in stock stamps which
will supply the needs of a population of 20,000 persons. Now, these
two towns are compelled to keep enough to supply a population of
200,000--all for the “furtherance of the breeding and preservation,”
etc., etc.
Here is another significant fact which may possibly elucidate the
recent and somewhat cryptic utterance, “The battle of Waterloo was won
on the playing fields of Eton just as certainly as the battle of Spion
Kop was lost upon the playing fields of Sandhurst.”
The fact is this ...
In the issue of _The War Office Times_, May 25, 1905, occurs a
flagrant puff of a bookmaker, who without the humour of a less eminent
_confrère_ who described himself as a “brass finisher” in the census
returns, calls himself a “high-class turf-accountant.”
“We strongly advise any of our readers who require a high-class
Turf-accountant to send for Mr. ----’s book of rules, bound in
leather, which will be sent post free to applicants. We have convinced
ourselves that this is a thoroughly genuine business, and, as such, we
have no hesitation in recommending it to our readers.”
I have the book “bound in leather,” and a good many others also, which
I acquired for the purposes of this article.
And precious and elaborate productions they are! The ingenuity of red
morocco and gilding, of alluring propositions and the suggestion of a
bludgeon-sturdy honesty deserve the highest praise. I was especially
delighted with the telegraphic code of one hero, which used the names
of fish to symbolize the amount of “investments.” “Salmon,” for
example, means “put me ten pounds on.”
All the denizens of ocean are used save one....
With commendable modesty, or possibly a fellow feeling, this worthy
has omitted “shark.”
One has said enough to outline--I hope vividly and strongly--how Sport
is being spoilt by gambling.
Sport, thank goodness, is not yet retrograde owing to this curse. But
it may be. Let us all remember that progress is merely the power of
seeing new beauties. The more Sport progresses unhindered by gambling,
the sooner will it take its high place in life and fulfil its noble
destiny.
And every sportsman can do something to help that progress.
The fiery Erasmus writes this of Sir Thomas More, who was a thorough
sportsman, to his German friend, Ulrich von Hutten:--
“Gambling of all kinds, balls, dice and such like he detests. None of
that sort are to be found about him. In short, he is the best type of
sportsman.”
“_Nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus._”
* * * * *
NOTE.--_Since this essay was written, three short articles appeared in
the sporting columns of the _Daily Mail_ which are a striking
corroboration of my contentions. All the articles appeared within a
few days of each other, and I print parts of them as an appendix._