"Say, let's get down to business!" said Porter. "What I want to know is this, Johnson: when are you going to cut loose with Zanzibar? You said we'd all be in with that; there'll be a sweet price on him, and we ought to clean up."
"Zanzibar is about ready," answered Johnson. "You'll know in plenty of time, and he's a cinch."
"And nobody knows a thing about him," said McManus.
"Good reason why," laughed Porter. "That's a pretty smart trick: working him away from the track."
"It's the only thing to do," said Johnson. "Zanzibar is a nervous colt, and if I worked him on the track with the other horses he'd go all to pieces. That's why I have Dutchy take him out on a country road and canter him. It keeps him from fretting before a race."
"How fast can he step the three-quarters?" asked Wilson.
"Fast enough to run shoes off of anything around here," said Johnson. "You needn't worry about that. We won't have to put him up against the best, though. Zanzibar didn't do anything last season, and he's bound to get a price in almost any kind of a race."
"You're sure he's under cover?"
"If he ain't under cover, a horse never was. He gets his work before sunrise, and at that most of it is just cantering. I've set him down, though, and I know what he can do."
"It sounds all right," admitted McManus.