SPORTING.

Globe, Volume VII, Issue 737, 30 October 1876, Page 3

SPORTING.

OMEN ABB ST, ( From, the Press.) What will win the Derby ? is a question often asked, and as often answered, but we fear very often without the slightest knowledge on the part of the answerer of the value of his information. For so uncertain a sport as racing, we know of none that has so many certainties on paper, so few in reality. This year, however, appears an exception ; the talent don’t seem to be able to come to a right conclusion. In this dilemma what are we to back. The philosophic, and probably wise, racing man, says, back nothing ; there are plenty of other races to bet upon, let this alone; what does it matter? But let me tell you, philosophic and hlase race goer, that it does matter. Do you think that the many headed will be satisfied with your advice? Certainly not. Theie are not many races that the public care to bet upon ; they don’t come to see Railway Plates and Handicaps, they come to see and wager on the Derby. How is the annual sovereign or half--crown to be invested on the great race, is the question many would wish to have solved. Will no one help us 1 Prophets are at variance, public form, in this instance, is so meagre, private trials are so unreliable, owner’s intentions are so unfathomable, and the money market m m:, queer, that we must try and draw ( ,i,r conclusions from some other source. It people exist in this matter-of-fact age who believe in auguries drawn from the phenomena of every day life, we think the present meeting would afford them as good a chance of investing their money profitably, as if they followed the lead of a Druid or a Sinbad. For instance, does your wife wear a black dress, and has she a red head ? If she does and has, then back Mr Redwood, Should you meet the schoolboy aged ten, and find that the stripes placed upon his body by the tailor haye been supplemented by an obligato accorp panitpent from the schoolmaster, then back the stripes and hope that the star of Mr Delamain may be in the ascendant, Should you meet a friend who tells you that he has been every morning to the course, and that he finds he knows more about the horses now than when he began, then back Fallacy. Should you see one of the learned professors who perambulates the town, hailing from Cambridge, then back Wrangler. N.B.—ln this case let the backer ascertain the exa t position occupied by the medium in the class list, before be puts ou too much

money, or is too sanguine. Should you come across a stout old gentleman with blue spectacles, then let visions of John Day rise before you, visions including the triumphs of Pyrrhus the First, and Andover, Mincepie, Yaaban, and Scottish Queen, then dash it close on Danebury, for this would be the straightest tip of all. Should you meet a son of misfortune, who attributes his short career of dishonour and defeat to mismanagement, but who hopes, by steady reformation, to pull through in the long run, then back Dead Heat, But these are only coincidences, very well in their way, and as much to be relied upon as the knowledge of the looker-on, or the information of the tout. But for true inspiration give me a really good dream; we must turn tojthe night side of nature for sibylline certainties. Let no one suppose, however, that he is going to gain this prophetic inspiration without a very careful preparation ; the goddess of dreams must be wooed before she is won. Let the aspiring dreamer partake of a cray • fish, a tin of preserved salmon, and half a dozen glasses of hot whiskey and water about 10,30 a m., or lay in a good substratum of toasted cheese to work upon. Then let him look at his betting book, not for long, or the depression might be too great, and we want him in every sense of the word to be in the best of spirits. Then let him study carefully half a dozen copies of Bell, and throw in one or two of “ Sinbad’s” racing articles as a gentle somnolent. We can do no more for him ; he must now trust to the god of dreams and indigestion. He must be pretty well prepared, and if it only does come off right, imagine the certainty he will have on the morrow. Sleep, not gentle sleep, descends on him, and then the prophetic vision comes at last. He sees the horses as they sweep along, here they come altogether ; he hears the shouts of the crowd ; and the bed seems shaken by their galloping ; cut! srart ! and dash 1 all is confusion. But the race is over, though short, he has had a badish time of it. If a bachelor, where are the clothes? If a married man, where is the wife I He sees the judge emerge from his box ; he sees the numbers go up—and it is—what?—a Dead Heat, How let bookmakers tremble, for our Joseph has solved the riddle, and the Derby winner is no longer a secret. Again we say, will no one help us? Will no one try our recipe ? We hope so ; and if any one is fortunate enough to have either a happy diurnal or nocturnal inspiration, let him communicate the same through the medium of the papers, and not selfishly retain his information for private use. We are strangled by the red-tape of public form, we are harassed by the rumors of private trials ; we are suffocated with a plethora of knowledge, For heaven’s sake then, let some one give us an omen.