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DAVTS, ENGLANDS LEVIATHAN BOOKMAKER. Celebrities of the Ring Who Were Leaders in an Era of Enormous Betting, The biggest bo lr maker in the earlier part of the last century was Davis, the "leviathan." who from an humble commencement became a man of sack sflneace that it was recorded of him that he paid away nearly 40.000 pounds over his li-t counter iilone after Voltigi urs Derby. According to "The Iiruid." Davis made his tirst bet of a half CTOWn about the year 1840, at a public bouse off the Grays Ian road wheake was a workman la the employ of Mr. Cubitt, the builder. At one period, when the Derby was the greatest ante-post betting race of the year — wagering commencing, on it when the horses were foals, long before they were even entered— Mr. Davis made, it Is averred, a 100.000 pound ! ..• k on it. but a few years after the sboliti in of list booses he almost ceased to make s Derby book, writing dowa ■ .lively a bet on it until a fortnight before the race, but wagering heavily, of course, at the post. The Derby and Oaks the latter at that tini- also an aate-post wagering affair were nalncky races, as a rule, for the "leviathan, while on the St. Lexer and at post betting be was uniformly fortunate. Had Hotspur, a half-bred outsider, for example, succeeded in shaking iff the challenge of The Flying Dutchman a few strides from home it would have made a difference of nearly ."u.ooo pounds in Davis favor, while if Barbarian hid wen ia I852 instead of running second in a M i of mad t., Daniel OBourke the turn in hi- favor would haw- been nearer double that amount. Over West Australians Derby be is credited with paying out 4S.OOO pounds, of which 30,000 pounds represented in- el,,., i: •. Mr.Bowes, the luce, in- sad owaer of the - n ..f Melbourne and Ifoweriaa. It is. ] v the wav. rather eu ions that a later htowerina likewise produced a Derby winner in the shape of Donovan. Davis may be said to have been the originator of the present system • : settling on Mondays, for it was hi- constant habit to go to TatteraaUs after the Derby, n mstter bow great his losses, and pay on the Monday instead of waiting until the convention*] settling Tuesday. lie was fond of bitting in running, for. a- -The Druid" pointed out. "ke had a capital eye for horses in trouble, and kept M betting until they were some tweaty yard- from the |H -t or. if a pear thing, after they were past it." Like i- ekford, Epkraha Bead combined Ike .-cations of l.ookniaker and holl-lcocpor. and rarely profitable bi found them, but evea n re profit sras derived by him a- a leader of araaey to yoeng men of rank ill- generous, offhand manner so favorably Impressed his borrowers that they regarded him with a kind of reverence, and Lord lie n infield, then Mr. I.en.jamin Disraeli, referred to him a- -the titst usurer in the world." Disraeli made him one of the characters, ia his book, "Henrietta. Temple. sketching him under the thinly-veiled name of P.ond Sharpe. One of the characters sa.vs of bias, "the fellow has a great soul, and though born on a dunghill, nature intended him for a palace, and placed him there." Ephraini Pond was certainly a man who would have succeeded in any walk of life, and he achieved greater eminence than one could exepect of a man who made his tirst start a- a prise tighter, and who was a hanger-on at sporting resorts and at the races, where he oo-. asi aally succeeded in getting some of the swells to provide a purse. Such impromptu contests against third-rate lighting men. or yokels, he invariably succeeded in winning, for lie. was not only sthletic, but al-o red. temperate, and in good condition, lb began by betting at prise lights, and sras then tired by the example of Croekford ar.d Gully with ambition to emulate their success, and he accordingly started bookmaking. A determined j gambler. 1 e was an extraordinarily lucky one, but , gambling retared his acquisition of wealth, and as • he was always well dressed, well spoken, and I I presentable, be determined to open a gaming house. : Be canvassed all the young swells and guardsmen, and - Melted their patronage at the little booee he was going to open in Duke street, St. lames, where gentlemen might enjoy a little play at night j and lie sine of meeting none but persons of go d bepute. They came, and in the fir.-t week P.. ml won over 5.000 pounds. Prom there he speedily ; removed to the Athenaeum Club in St. James Street, and in 1838 to the palatial club known as Raggetts • Junior. St. .Tame-, next door to Creekfords. Adopt- J lag much the same tactics as Crockford, he opened bis fa use to the members of every respectable club in London. French hazard was the only game played, and with a bank of 10.000 p .unds the stakes were unlimited. By 137 Bnhraim P.ond had ama-se.l a big fortune, and had blossomed out into 1 a newspaper proprietor, in addition to becoming the le-soe of two theaters. He bought a stud of i race horses from a nobleman, but owing to a severe illness which rendered his health most precarious he abandoned any idea of rivalling Gullys 1 turf achievements, and sold his btring o£ thorugh-breds. It was one of his brothers who became so notor- I ious as the "owner" of Ludlow, a horse in reality til.- property of a clique who. while pulling the 1 strings, preferred to remain in the background, as no one would back any horse known to be owned by 3 thesa. Ludlow was foaled in 1*29 and was a brown colt bv Fillio da Pate out of a Smolensk. mare and wa- judging from the ••Calendar." an inconsistent performer, somewhat after the pattern of the horse immortalized iu a later era by the noble versifier w ho wrote: "Hack him. von lose shirt, breeches and Shoes; Lay against Mm, he wins in a canter." I I At any rate, Ludlow occasionally lost races for whih he wa- favorite, and unexpectedly "bobbed up" at a long price in others a- he did in the War- . wick Gold Cup four miles. For that race in 1833 there were three ruuners. Mr. J. Days List, n being C a o to 2 on chance, with Jlan.eb.es.ttr second cnoke. j , • I I : j ; • J at "threes," and Ludlow the outsider at 10 to 1. In these days, as now, apparently, it paid at times to back the outsider of a field of three. Ludlow does not figure as the property of his reputed OWBCX in the "Calendar." He certainly won at 2 to 1 on in the Palatine Stakes at Chester in the prerioas year and was also a warm favorite when he won the Lirerpool Spring St. Leger. Mr. "Ludlow" Bond apparently liked the notoriety conferred upon him by the supposed ownership, for he christened a veiling he bought of the Duke of Grafton "Ludlow Junior." Returning to Ephraini Bond, it is recorded that he used to say of himself, half-bitteriy, halt-proudly, "I have risen by pat salts which the world does not consider reputable, yet if I had not had recourse to them I should be less than nothing." F.-w men ever made a fortune SSOre rapidly than Ephraini Bead, at all events in those days, when Ballarat. California and the Rand were still unheard of. He also speat his i lev niagniliceiitlv and lived like a prince. He might, ia fact, have been one. bo i repoasesaing was ids appearance. He was ambitions of social distinction and gained it. thanks to his wealth and his personal qualities. He died worth a quarter of a million in early middle life, and left the bulk of his fortune to his only surviving brother, Joseph Bond, who outlived him some four or live decades, and was both w. 11 known and opular in racing circles. One thing in which Joseph Bond took great pride almost to the end of his loag life was the excellence of his riding and carriage horses. Ephraini P. 1 was a great friend Ol Kenton Nicholson, of ••Judge and Jury" fame after whom Mr. Portion named a colt bv The Baron Chief Baron Nicholson. At Epsom, iii 1S52. that colt finished third for the Derby to Mr. Lowes Daniel ORourke and Mr. Bradahaws Barbarian. lh it was an outsiders year, the winner starting a! 25 to 1, the second at 100 to 1. and the "Chief Patau" at 40 to 1 against. — London Sportsman.
