SPORTING.

Press, Volume XXVI, Issue 3479, 30 October 1876, Page 3

SPORTING.

OiIEN ABEST. will win the Derby 1 ia a question often asked, and as often answered, bat we fear very often without the Shratest knowledge on the part of the acsfferer of the value of his information. ?L jo uncertain a sport as racing, we know tt Eone that has co many certainties on caper » few in reality. This year, however, J!!Csjb an exception ; the talent don't seem to be able to coaie to a right conclusion. Ia __sg dilemma what are we to back. The uhilosiphic, and probably wise, racing man, iats, back nothing ; there are plenty of other _ces to bet open, let this alone; what does it rjitter? But let mc tell you, philosophic id blase race goer, that it does matter. Do tola think that the many headed will be iaosfiedwith your advice? Certainly not. There are not many races that the public j-re to bet upon ; they don't come to see Baflway Plates and Handicap?, they come to «c aud wager on the Derby. How is the OT Tmal sovereign or half-crown to be invested on the &&& race > i 8 the ( l ueßt i° a many wonli wieh to have solved. Will no one felpfus? 'Prophets are at variance, public -farm, in this instance, is so meagre, private tri&U are so unreliable, owner's intentions us.*© unfathomable, and the money market Ux&b so queer, that we must try and draw oar^conclusions from some other source. If people exist in this matter-of-fact age who "bsUare in auguries drawn from the phenoBSM of every day life, we think the present meeting would afford tbem as good a chance «f investing their mosey profitably, as if they followed *he lead of a Draid or a Binbai For instance, does your wife wear a black dress, and has she a red head ? If she does and has, then back Mr Bed wood. Should you meet the schoolboy aged ten, and find thafctbe stripes placed upon his body by the -tailor have been supplemented by an obli.gsto accompaniment 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. Shonld you see one of the learned professors who perambulates the town, hailing from Cambridge, then back Wrangler. NBl—-In this case let the backer ascertain

•theexa«t position occupied by the mediam ia the class list, before he pnts on too much money, or is too sanguine. Should you come across., a stout old gentleman with blue spectacles, then let visions of John Day rae before you, visions including - the traophs of Pyrrhus the First, and AsSsTer, Mincepie, Vauban, and Scottish <}aas,then dash it close on Danebury, for ifcii would be the straightest tip of all. fiiOTld you meet a son of misfortane, who attributes his short career of dishonour and defeat to mismanagement, but who hopes, by steady reformation, to pull through in the bag ran. 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 Obe tout. But for true inspiration give mc a really good dream; we must turn tojthe night *de of nature for sibylline certainties. Let Bo one suppose, however, that he is going to gain this prophetic inspiration without a very carefnl preparation ; the goddess of dreams must be wooed before she is won.

Let the aspiring dreamer partake of a cray£lh, a tin of preserved salmon, and half a, doten glasses of hot whiskey and water'

about 10.30 a m., or lay in a good substratum

of toasted cheese to work npon. Then let ha look at his betting book, not for long, or "fee depression might be too great, and

*c want him in every sense of the TOti to be in the best of spirits. lethim study carefully half a dozen espies of Bell, and throw in one or two of "Sinbad's" racing articles as a gentle somcolsnt. We can do no more for him; he ttim now trust to the god of dreams and indigestion. He must be pretty well prepued. and if it only does come off right, itaapietbe certainty he will have on the maattb*; Bleep, not gentle sleep, descends ■oa.hlin, and then the prophetic vision comes at last. He sees the horses as they swv'ep along, here they come altogether ; he hears the snouts of tbe crowd ; and the bed seems shakes by their galloping; cut! start 1 and dash! ail is confusion. But the race is over, though short, he has had a badish time ■oHi If a bachelor, where are the clothes? La married man, where is the wife I He sees the jodge emerge from his box ; he sees the numbers go up—and it is—what?—a Bead Heat Now let bookmakers tremble, Joseph has solved the riddle, and the Derby winner is no longer a secret. Again we say, will no one help us 2 Will no one try oar recipe? We hope so; and if any <a» is fortunate enough to have either a ™ppydiuraal or nocturnal inspiration, let hia. communicate the same through the JMcHun of the papers, and not selfishly re« «* ha information for private use. We *rs strangled by the red-tape of public form, BB harassed by the rumors of private wWsjWe are suffocated with a plethora of •wwledge. For heaven's sake then, let ye one give us an omen.