DEATH OF THE "LEVIATHAN" OF THE TURF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVI, Issue 5651, 27 December 1879, Page 7

DEATH OF THE "LEVIATHAN" OF THE TURF.

TfiK .rare very people in the British Lc:.-v . » who have any acquaintance with racing chat have not heard of Mr. W. Davis* who was once known as the 41 Leviathan" of the turf. But that was years ago, when list betting, now prohibited, wa* in vogue. Of this system of betting Mr. Davi* may be described as having been the father and founder, for he was the big man at that particular class of speculation in itß very palmiest days, and only the elder folks can r«m<.in)»Rr what marvellous things he used to do in the way ot wagering, lie commencid the life of betting in a comparatively small way, for at tfrst he lived to take halfcrowns in Long Acre, and had, as may be imnuined. from nis betting in such amounts, a very small book, but from what may be described ag the loweremost Jung of the bookmaker's ladder, he rose to its very apex. He was originally in Cubitus establishment in Gray's Inn Road, where he commc-nced by making a small "volume" to accommodate th£ sporting proclivities of his companions, and perhaps the tirst of his many bii; transactions was in betting M. Greville 7,000 to 1,000 against Alarm in 1545 f«-r the Cambridgeshire that year. As i 3 well known, Flatinan rode the horse to victory, and on the morning after the race Mr. Davis was at the usual rendezvous of settling, and presented seven £1,000 clean crisp Hank of England notes in fulfilment of the liability. The Salisbury Arms, Durham-street, in the Strand, was a great place of Mr. Davis's, and over Voltigeur's Derby victory, in ISuO, he paid away no lees a sum than £50,000. The Derby was a race over which Mr. Davis seldom did any good, and many a time he has heard to sigh that but for the early betting on the Epsom cr»otest he have made fortunes ov»-r and over again. Mr. Davis was wry fond of pedestrian exercise, and used to carry very la r ge sums of money about with h;rn. Upon one occasion of his walking down Gray's Inn Road he was robbed of a considerable amount, for the recovery of whic:h he offered a large reward, but he never heard of the thieves or their ill-gutten booty. For many years past Mr. Davis has resiled at RWghtoo, and has suffered from imperfect vision; indeed, he lias been almost totally blind for a nob inconsiderable period. He died on October 4, at the of CI, at Gloucester Place, and all the old school of racing men will regret most deeply his loss, and those of the young ones who him only by repute can be told that he was one of the most dashing bettors that ever lived.