Edgar Wallace

“ He loved racing for racing’s sake; he could enjoy a week at Newmarket without soiling the virgin leaves of his betting-book. But when he betted, he betted freely. No price was too short for him. His ravaging commissioners devoured the markets as locusts devour the land. ”

“ Brian watched them from the carriage window. He saw the unobtrusive shadows fall in behind, and returned to his seat.
That night when Lord Pinlow returned to his flat, he found a package waiting for him marked ‘urgent’. He opened it and was puzzled, for it was no more than a snapshot photograph of five men walking along a station platform. Then, with a curse, he recognized the leader as a man whose services he had enlisted to settle his feud. ”

“ XII.—BRIAN MAKES ACQUAINTANCES The Saturday afternoon before Goodwood, Brian spent at Hurst Park, an interested spectator of the racing. The presence of the ‘big punter’ was always a source of nervousness to the ring. Impossible horses were rushed to favouritism on the rumour that ‘Pallard had his maximum’ on that particular animal, only to be banished to obscurity when the rumour was disposed of.
Brian had a wonderful eye for a horse. ”