“‘But they know what the horse has done already.’ Yes; but not what the horse might have done. They do not know—no one can, who is not in the secrets of the Turf—what the horse’s engagements really are; whether he has not been kept back in view of those engagements; whether he will not be kept back again; whether he has not been used to make play for another horse; and—in one word—whether he is _meant_ to win. “‘Ah, but the young gentleman has sent his money on commission to a prophet in the newspaper, in whom he has the highest confidence; he has prophesied the winner two or three times at least; and a friend of his sent him money to lay on, and got back ever so much; and he has a wonderful Greek name, Lynceus, or Polyphemus, or Typhlops, or something, and so he must know.’ “Ah! fool, fool! You know how often the great Polyphemus prophesied the winner, but you do not know how often he did not. Hits count of course; but misses are hushed up. And as for your friend getting money back, if Polyphemus let no one win, his trade would stop. The question is, not whether one foolish lad had _won_ by him, but whether five-and-twenty foolish lads did not _lose_ by him. He has his book to make, as well as you, and he wants your money to pay his own debts with if he loses. He has his bread to earn, and he wants your money to earn it with; and as for sending him money, you may as well throw a sovereign down a coal-pit and expect it to come up again with a ton of coals on its back.” A simple and effective way of exposing the folly of betting on horses is to take some leading sporting papers for a week and to put an imaginary pound upon each of the selected winners, and then count the losses and gains at the end of a week. The result of such an operation was sent to the _Daily News_ some time ago, and is given below. The predicted winners were by “Augur” of the _Sporting Life_ and “Vigilant” of the _Sportsman_, who are recognised authorities in racing circles. An imaginary pound was put on each race. In the case where two selections were made, 10s. was put on each. SUMMARY OF WEEK _Sporting Life._ _Sportsman._ Loss £12 10 11 £16 1 10 Gain 1 13 9 6 14 6 ---------- ---------- Loss £10 17 2 £9 7 4 It is indeed astonishing how far men will go on the chance of a run of luck when the probabilities are that they will lose. At Monte Carlo there are eight gambling-tables, each of which averages a profit of £500 daily from the public, yet players are always to be found.