A Disqualified Jockey's Story

You see, the thing was this way -- there was me, / That rode Panoppoly, the Splendor mare, / And Ikey Chambers on the Iron Dook, / And Smith, the half-caste rider, on Regret, / And that long bloke from Wagga -- him what rode / Veronikew, the Snowy River horse. / Well, none of them had chances -- not a chance / Among the lot, unless the rest fell dead / Or wasn't trying -- for a blind man's dog / Could see Enchantress was a certain cop, / And all the books was layin' six to four.

They brought her out to show our lot the road, / Or so they said; but, then, Gord's truth! you know, / You can't believe 'em, though they took an oath / On forty Bibles that they'd tell the truth. / But anyhow, an amateur was up / On this Enchantress, and so Ike and me, / We thought that we might frighten him a bit / By asking if he minded riding rough -- / 'Oh, not at all,' says he, 'oh, not at all! / I learnt at Robbo Park, and if it comes / To bumping I'm your Moses! Strike me blue!' / Says he, 'I'll bump you over either rail, / The inside rail or outside -- which you choose / Is good enough for me' -- which settled Ike; / For he was shaky since he near got killed / From being sent a buster on the rail, / When some chap bumped his horse and fetched him down / At Stony Bridge, so Ikey thought it best / To leave this bloke alone, and I agreed.