Question

excerpt from \the adventure of silver blaze\ by arthur conan doyle
\a more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than master silas brown i have seldom met with,\ remarked holmes as we trudged along together.
\he has the horse, then?\
\he tried to bluster out of it, but i described to him so exactly what his actions had been upon that morning that he is convinced that i was watching him. of course, you observed the peculiarly square toes in the impressions, and that his own boots exactly corresponded to them. again, of course, no subordinate would have dared to do such a thing. i described to him how, when according to his custom he was the first down, he perceived a strange horse wandering over the moor. how he went out to it, and his astonishment at recognizing, from the white forehead which has given the favorite its name, that chance had put in his power the only horse which could beat the one upon which he had put his money. then i described how his first impulse had been to lead him back to kings pyland, and how the devil had shown him how he could hide the horse until the race was over, and how he had led it back and concealed it at mapleton. when i told him every detail he gave it up and thought only of saving his own skin.\
\but his stables had been searched?\
\oh, an old horse - faker like him has many a dodge.\
\but are you not afraid to leave the horse in his power now, since he has every interest in injuring it?\
\my dear fellow, he will guard it as the apple of his eye. he knows that his only hope of mercy is to produce it safe.\
what can you infer about silas brown based on this passage from \the adventure of silver blaze\?
silas brown killed silver blaze and kidnapped straker so that he could win the race.
silas brown found silver blaze wandering the moor, but didnt recognize him, so he let it run off.
silas brown found silver blaze wandering in the moor and hid him at mapleton to win the race.

Explanation:

The passage states that Silas Brown found the horse (Silver Blaze) wandering the moor. He recognized it (from the white forehead that gave the horse its name - Silver Blaze). His first impulse was to lead it back, but then he thought of hiding it until the race was over. He led it back and concealed it at Mapleton. This indicates he hid the horse to win the race. The first option is wrong as there's no mention of killing Silver Blaze or kidnapping Straker. The second option is wrong as he did recognize the horse.

Answer:

Silas Brown found Silver Blaze wandering in the moor and hid him at Mapleton to win the race.