Sir—I do not profess to enter into the pro or con of this vital question, which is increasing in force and imperativeness with each succeeding year. But to those of your readers—and I fear they are greatly in the majority—who, in spite of experience, fondly believe that it is possible to make money by backing horses, I append a list of 22 chances against the backer in every race that is run. 1. The regular percentage of odds, ranging from 2 to 1 up to 20 against one in every race. There can be only one winner. 2. The horse may be fit and capable of winning, but not “wanted.” 3. “Wanted” by the owner, not “wanted” by the trainer. 4. “Wanted” by owner and trainer, not “wanted” by the jockey, who has his money on another runner. 5. Owner, trainer, or jockey in debt to a bookmaker. In either of these three cases the horse runs to suit the layer’s book, irrespective of the backer. 6. Horse tried to be a certainty—money on. Something wrong with trial horse. All calculations upset. Again the backer loses. 7. Race lost by a bad start. 8. Long delay under a hot sun. Horse irritable, nervous, wears himself out at the post. 9. Some fractious brute who has no place out of a selling race kicks the “certainty” at the post. 10. Jockey disobeys orders, and throws the race away, or goes to sleep. 11. Tiny light weight, caught by steel-knit veteran, fails through weakness. More grist to the bookmaker. 12. A lends B his best trial horse—say Bluebottle—to try Broomstick. Result of trial makes the race a good thing for Broomstick, but a still better thing for A’s old sprinter, Juggler, who has got in with a light weight. A quietly works a starting price job all over the country, and with Juggler just nips Broomstick on the post. 13. Brown lends his crack jockey to ride Jones’s Malaprop, and price shortens. Brown’s money is probably on Gay Deceiver. Jockey obeys orders, and rides Malaprop in Gay Deceiver’s interest. 14. Horse certain to win. Stable forestalled at the last moment. Jockey honest. No help for it. Give the colt a nice refreshing drink of water before the start. 15. Everything lovely. Mount winning easily, when he stumbles and nearly comes down. 16. Jockey makes his effort too late. 17. Jockey secretly owner of horse, other than his mount, running in the same race. 18. Short sprint. Bad draw for position extinguishes chance. 19. Public back the favourite. Stable wins with outsider. See Dieudonne and Jeddah. 20. Crowding at a turn. Jockey hopelessly shut in. 21. Jockey skilfully shuts himself in. “Couldn’t get through, sir.”