Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1894-02-28
A Fortune on -Four Legs.



1t took mo all my time to persuade
my mother that | was not Toing to ruin
myself on the turf Lad to mako out
that 1t would lo impossible To realize
the true value of the horses or inlclU
To ascertain it without a public trial
before she would hear of my running
them. Her theuTy-instilled into her
mind Y nay dear uncle. who had HIM
elf been a victim Cf the same doctrine
was that in TO way could racing he
made To pay except Ey letting. Natty
griunCd when | mentioned this to him
He said il was fatal delusion, the ex-
act opposite being really the case, and
cited instances which showed that the
only regular winners We're those who
did not let, whilo all who backed their
fI!.,y for each race inevitably came to
GRIEF sooner or later. You must not ex-
pect. he said. to win largely unless you
were a great owner of Il first class stud,
like Lord Tregothnan or the Duke of
Eastminster. whose winnings in simple
stakes would often amount to from
e12, 900 to 80, 900 a year, but there
was nothing to prevent man, with
a small stud containing Il good horse
or two, from winning in a proportion
allv SIN Ill way. Thus he showed me
how with a stud. the training expenses
Of which would amount only to hun
drc,lS. Il thousand or two per annum,
taking one Year with another, might he
realized without Letting by one who
thoroughly understood the capacities of
his own horses and how to race them.
Give me" said Nat. IA couple of
nays as good as your mare and 81 900
capital. and ] d undertake to show you Il
satisfactory balance sheet at tho end of
three years without booking single
bet. Stakes are SO good now that soil
tary win will often pay the training bill
Of half a dozen horses and leave some
thing in hand t. go on with.
Why, then, do not more owners do
it, | naturally asked.
Because they are buffers, Nat an
swc1cd promptly, and because those
who do know something about it are
never content with IL reasonable profit
on their money invested. Did you
ever know Il racing man satisfied with
10 or even 20 per cent on his outlay:
Doesn' h. invariably curse his luck if
he gets less than cent per cent whenever
he happens to win: Betting ruins rae
ing in more ways than one.
All this was reassuring to me, but
not even Natty'S ingenious talk when
he came down to Buurnemouth could
prevail with the mater. She said was
my own master and must do as pleased,
hut she should not help me with Il pen
!, I iptA
which indeed | neither expected nor
desired h,'r to do. Geraldine, on the
other hand, was much impressed by
Natty's knowledge. and after his visit
Looked on her furs as good as Won.
|. however. WAS 10y no means san
guinc. could hardly believe that I'ur-
ki~~. in whom my uncle placed 50 much
confidence, could have been such a
dutfrr as Nat made him out, and |
could not divest myself of the idea that
Brilliant would prove the better OF the
pair. had new quite decided Ia run
h.nI, at any rate, for one racing season
and see how got ON. y strict invcsti-
cation OF my financial position told Inc
| WAS justified in doing so much as this,
The hUrS, :. roughly speaking, would
cost li' = lto "a wear tStCu ~ hctp lISiu
i'll training. and other expenses of entry
and Jockeys fees. travelling and so ON,
might run to eI50 more Against
this. tho two mares with their foals
fetched 1850, so that | was about all
right for the first year. My mother
wished me to put by this money for my
marriage expenses, but l saw that,
could | turn it to account in the way
Natty thought l could, it would consid-
erably expedite matters with the Chol-
acknowledgements. knew the Rev.
Cholmondcly we'll enough to Go assured
that his real objection to turf specula-
tions would be confined to such as were
not successful.
Ella was at this time staying with
some friends at Bournemouth, and saw
her every day. Pleasant days they were