The Twister (Paperback)

In the summer of nineteen-twenty-something a little trainer of racehorses and a jockey were at variance. The third party to the dispute was a bookmaker of dubious reputation. The trouble arose over a horse called Ectis, which was favourite for the Royal Hunt Cup. Both jockey and trainer were under suspicion; they lived so near a warning-off notice that they could afford to take no risks. The dispute was whether the horse should be scientifically left at the post or, as the jockey suggested, whether all risks should be eliminated by a little dose of laudanum before the race. Both men were foreseeing certain contingencies. For if the horse were left the jockey was to blame, and if the stewards thought the animal had been doctored and there was an inquiry the trainer would most certainly depart from the turf with some violence. Eventually the trainer had his way. Ectis was to be caught at the gate flat-footed. The bookmaker who acted for both laid the horse continuously, and from favourite he became second favourite, and from second favourite, third: from thence he drifted into the 100 to 6 class.