"
But if there was no innocence on the turf, rogues could not live; they
are not cannibals--not, at all events, while they can obtain tenderer
food. And are there not commercial circles also which could not exist
without their equally innocent supporters?
Experience may be a dear school, but its lessons are never forgotten.
A very little should go a long way, and the wisest make it go
farthest. If any one wants a picture of innocence on the turf, let me
give one of my own drawing, taken from nature.
All my life I have loved animals, especially horses and dogs; and all
field sports, especially hunting and racing. But I went on the turf
with as much simplicity as a girl possesses at her first ball, knowing
nothing about public form or the way to calculate odds, to hedge, or
do anything but wonder at the number of fools there were in the world.
I did not know "a thing or two," like the knowing ones who lose all
they possess. Who could believe that men go about philanthropically to
inform the innocent how to "put their money on," while they carefully
avoid putting on their own? Tipsters, in short, were no part of my
racing creed. I was not so ignorant as that. I believed in a good
horse quite as much as Lord Rosebery does, and much more than I
believed in a good rider. But there were even then honest jockeys, as
well as unimpeachable owners.
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