“Worth crossing the ocean to see, is it not, Drusa?” he asked.
“Yes; even though we know little of horses, and less of races, and least of all which is likely to win the Derby.”
“‘Fairy Queen,’ is the favorite, I believe.”
“What did you say, Dick?”
“I say Mr. Chisholm Cheke’s ‘Fairy Queen’ is the favorite!”
“What favorite? Whose favorite?”
“Tut, Drusa! Why the favorite of the turf, of the stables, and of the betting men! The horse upon whose success the most money is staked, the one that is expected to win the Derby!”
“But if everybody knows which horse is likely to win the Derby, why does any one ever bet on any other?”
“Ah! that I can’t tell,” said Dick, shrugging his shoulders. “Only this,—the favorite does not always win, in fact seldom does, I think; it is generally some dark horse that wins the race.”
“Dark horse? Do the dark ones run better than the light ones?”