Related article: criticism is very much misplaced.
The severest critic is generally
incapable of sitting a horse at all,
to say nothing Order Diovan Hct of taking one ova*
a steeplechase like that of San-
down. People who go to bet are
apt to think themselves ill used if
the object of their fancy is beaten
through jockeyship ; but they
know perfectly well what they
have to expect, and that all army
officers are not Arthur Nightin-
galls. The hospitality of the
cavalry regiments that are most
intimately connected with the
meeting is a feature, and with
beautiful weather as nearly a
certainty as English weather can
1
J
1899.1
"OUR VAN.
•<
289
be, the attendance of ladies was,
perhaps, a record one. Certainly
nothing more brilliant has been
seen at previous meetings.
The racing was of an ordinary
character, as was to be expected
in so ordinary a season as this has
been. The race for the Gold Cup
possessed no interest, and it was
won by Captain W. Murray-
Threipland's Lambay ; but the
Grand Military Steeplechase
showed us County Council, a
talked-of candidate for the Grand
National, who won easily enough,
Mr. Reginald Ward being satisfied
to beat Sitric by a length. This
gentleman rode with his usual
success, though he did not enjoy
so much of a *' beanfeast " as last
year.
At Gatwick we are repeatedly
shown experiments in the direction
of improving things by the aid of
better stakes than the average,
and a notable instance was that
of the March meeting. On the
first day there were two steeple-
chases of 500 Diovan Hct Alternatives sovs. each, and two
others of 200 sovs. each, whilst
on the second day there was the
International Hurdle race of i ,000
sovs. To show the difficulty there
is Substitute For Diovan Hct with these large stakes, the race
did not fill at the first time of
asking. The meeting just escaped
the frost, and it was very satis-
factory that the attendance sug-
gested that the management did
not suffer through its liberality.
The big race did not present any Diovan Hct Generic Alternative
international features, the French,
for one thing, having plenty of
remimerative opportunities on
their own side of the Channel.
The appearance of Rampion was,
of course, interesting, and he
failed only in giving 22lbs. to
Wales, who beat him by three-
quarters of a length. On the
whole, the field that ran did not
inspire one with much enthusiasm
in the cause of hurdle racing, for Side Effects Of Diovan Hct 320
the class was poor indeed to run
for 1,000 sovs.
Frenoh Raoing— Bookmakep
Y. Pari-Mutuel.— Just when the
vexed question of betting on race-
courses has received a final settle-
ment in England, without much
apparent chance of revival, it
makes its appearance in France.
In that country the conditions
under which racing is conducted
differ in many important respects
from those prevailing here ; but
there is some analogy in the way
the betting question has been
raised on either side of the channel,
inasmuch as, in each case, the
opposition has been led by persons
but little conversant with 'racing
matters. Otherwise there is not
much in common between the
two movements, if the motive
assigned for the action taken in
France can be accepted as the
true one. In England, public
morality was what was fought for
by the anti-gamblers ; in France,
there is no mention of morality,
which is supposed to be capable
of looking after itself, the pecu-
niary interests of the sport and
municipal pocket being what it is
sought to protect. It is not
sought to Diovan Hct Generic Equivalent suppress betting — only
the bookmaker, who has plied his
trade with success, in spite of the
universal adoption of the pari-
muttiel. The pari-mutuel is a very
material source of income, and
* the incontrovertible argument is
that the bookmaker taps this.
From every transaction done
through the medium of the pari-
mutuel a certain percentage is
deducted, but the bookmaker, of
course, pays no percentage on his
turnover. M. Chauvin, deputy
of Buy Cheap Diovan Hct the Seine-et-Marne department,
on these grounds, has drawn the
attention of the Government to
the breach of the Betting Law of
1 89 1, pleading that no less a sum
than eighteen millions of francs,
290
BAILY S MAGAZINE.
[Apwl
from which the percentage would
be deducted, is diverted. The
Betting Act of 189 1 is plain enough
in its text, for it prohibits, in the
simplest language, the exploitation
of betting in any form whatsoever
on a racecourse. An exception
was, however, made in favour of
the pari-ntutuel, the authorisation
for the employment of which is
revocable at any time Cheap Diovan Hct at the hands
of the Minister of Agriculture.
Whether betting per bookmaker
is allowed or disallowed on French
racecourses might not appear to
be a question of importance to us
in England, but there is a good
deal to be learnt by an investi-
gation of Side Effects Of Diovan Hct 160 the matter. Another
analogy is to be found in the fact
that in each case the Act is being
applied in a way contrary to that
intended by the framer of it. As
in the case of the English Act,
upon which the anti-gamblers
founded their action, the French
Act was framed to put down a
certain class of betting, but has
been applied to the detriment of
another class. The betting which
it was sought to put down was
the ready-money system as prac-
tised in English racecourse en-
closures, backers depositing their
stake with the bookmaker, and
receiving tickets by way of ac-
knowledgment of the transaction.
It is confidently alleged that no
intention whatever existed of
interfering with the bookmaker
betting with clients **on the nod,'*
as we agree to term it ; but, in the
text of the Act before me, I can
only say that, if this was in the
mind of the framer, then the
wording is very carelessly done.
It is not a little remarkable that,
in both France and England, an
Act dealing with the same matter
should have been so carelessly
drawn up as to lead to disagree-
ableness years afterwards. Those
who disagree with the suppression