or dark’un, subs. (turf).—A horse whose pace is unknown to the backers; figuratively, a candidate about whom little is known.
1831. B. DISRAELI, The Young Duke, ch. v., p. 66 (ed. 1866). All the ten-to-oners were in the rear, and a DARK HORSE, which had never been thought of, and which the careless St. James had never even observed in the list, rushed past the grand stand in sweeping triumph.
1863. Diogenes, vol. II., p. 271.
| Farewell! oh, farewell to the lists | |
| On whose varying prices I’ve hung; | |
| I care nought for the DARK-HORSE that lives | |
| Unknown, who shall put me all right. |
1884. HAWLEY SMART, From Post to Finish, ch. i. He had beaten everything that was going to oppose him, with the exception of some two or three DARK COLTS, of which little was expected.
