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AN OLD TIMERS REMINISCENCES, Talking about betting. Every oldtlmer has heard of Lord George Bentinck and the superb groan to which he gave vent, according to Benjamin Disraeli, when he heard that Surplice, a son of the great Touchstone, had won the Derby. Lord Koseberry Is said when young to have desired three things to be prime minister,- to marry the wealthiest girl in Lngland and to win the Derby. He had his hearts youthful desire, but to Lord Bentinck, great uncle to the present Duke of Portland, was denied during his thirteen years on the turf, his one great ambition, namely to win the big Epsom event. He won the Two Thousand Guineas, the One Thousaud and the Oaks with that great mare, Crucifix, but the Derby he strove after in vain. He sold Surplice along with all his horses on his retirement from racing to devote himself to politics. A week after the son of Touchstone and the aforementioned Crucifix had added the St. Leger to his laurels Lord George, at the early age of 40. was found dend on his fathers estate at Welbeck, having died according to the coroners jury "by the visitation of God." But 1 started in to talk of betting. Lord George Bentinck, although up to his time the greatest reformer the turf had known, was decidedly fond of a gamble, just as other famous IoIiticians of the past have been, not omitting Charles James Fox and Edmund Burke. lie stood to win three-quarters of a million dollars on his horse. Gaper, in the Derby, but shrewdly did not overlook Mr. Bowes Cotherstone, another son of Touchstone, the actual winner, his own candidate, being unplaced, and cleared 50,000. Two years later he. acknowledged to having netted half a million ..dollars on the seasons transactions. Ou his mare Crucifix be cleared 00,000. The gigantic way in which lie carried on racing is proven by the fact that iii one vcar lie Jiad sixty horses in training and paid 15,000 in forfeits alone. He was the first to have horses carried in vans to the races and won a big stake over Lord Lichfields Ells in the St. Leger. the actual pioneer of tho method. He also eaused to be passed stringent laws against defaulters and introduced the second flag at starting. Up to Lord George Bentincks period, indeed, it was very much like go-as-you-please on the turf, .the scene at times being a veritable saturnalia. II. P. Good in Montreal Mail.
