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SOME MENS LUCK WITH BETS. "Winning Tips oh the Races Handed Out Under Unusual Circumstances Revenge Schsmo Fails. "Fate plays some funny pranks," said the old 1 sport in an armchair at the Hoffman House one j evening recently, "but I never saw it illustrated I better than in the late 70s when I was doing the s -western racing circuits with a couple of smart t trotters, a quarter horse of more than ordinary r quality and a simon pure thoroughbred that could 1 run heats at a mile, two miles or even four miles s if there was money, in sight. "We had been through Michigan and had won u some pretty good bets on one of our trotters and 1 when we camped at Cleveland we thought that Ohio 0 would be as kind as Michigan, as our horses were all ready and they were better than they had 1 shown at Detroit and Jackson. Among the first t men we met in Cleveland Avas a friend of John D. . Rocket filers who was smooth enough for flash li company on any track when it came to getting the e j money. "He was one of those who had been persuaded il that there would be dividends in the petroleum "business, and all the money lie- madein the livery y stable game he" puf into the enterprise Rockefeller r iind his associates had just formed. He had a few ,v pretty good horses at his stable in town and he e , , : 1 j I s t r 1 s u 1 0 1 t . li e j il y r ,v e conducted at the track a boarding kitchen, where n majority of the help employed by the various trainers were fed. We hadnt known him more than twenty-four hours before he was urging my part- J ner and myself to come around and drive some of his horses whenever we wanted to go to Glenville. " Theyre simply eating their heads off, and it costs money to hire men to exercise them, was the way lie put it. , "So we drove them the two weeks we were there. ! We won some races and the stable keeper was in on everything we had. When it came time to pack ; up and depart for Buffalo and the east we were handed a bill that made us sit up and take notice. We had been charged more than the usual foe every time we drove one of the horses, and if we had J fed our men downtown at one of the fashionable j places we couldnt have been set back much more. I was particularly hot under the collar and carried the bill to the old fellow. " How about this bill? I demanded. " Why, its all right, isnt it? was his reply ! after scanning it through his glasses first and then scrutinizing me over the top of them. " I gulped down my wrath, but then and there made a mental vow to square tilings sooner or later. Well, Buffalo passed, and we skinned over to Saratoga to take part in an engagement in which our thoroughbred was entered. There was an oltl trotting horse acquaintance of mine who hunted me up soon after my arrival and eagerly sought my .opinion of the races. I Avas playing mighty lucky, and a few days afterward when a particularly good tiling at long odds had won my acquaintance remarked: " Old Tom must be a pretty good winner on all the good tilings Ive sent him since you came to town. " Old Tom. What Old Tom? I asked, smelling a mouse at once, for my man was from Cleveland also. " Why, Old Tom remarked the trotting horse driver. "It was my dear old friend the livery man, all right, and I had hard work to keep from laughing in his face. It was so easy to see what was going to happen to Old Tom. I thought that the fates were very kind to me tiie very next day, when my acquaintance said he had to go up the state for a couple of days and would I send a few good things to Cleveland in his name? "Would I? I would be delighted and I set my plans to make Old Tom squirm. There was a heat race on for the next day and when the entries came out I began operations. "There was a cipher code that would suit any requirements and I doped out the information that there was going to be something doing in this event and that I would wire him bets that night. On paper it looked like a cinch for a real smart horse called Mecca, but about ten oclock I wired my man that the race had been fixed for Big Sandy and for him to put down a chunk of money on that horse. Early next morning I made it stronger, and just before the horses went to the post I shot another tip to him saying that it was as good as in. "Well, Mecca won the first heat in a walk, and having started a red-hot favorite the odds shortened up for fair. Old Tom was in the poolroom at Cleveland and he wired me anxiously saying that the nice looked queer to him considering my information. I sent another hot line saying never to stop, and what do you think happened? Nothing but this: Mecca broke down and Rig Sandy won the heat in ; a trot, as our English cousins would say. "He Avon the next heat, too, and I Avas mad 1 enough to bite a nail in two. Here Avas my man i delivered into my hands Avitli the conditions made : to order, and in steps fate and upsets my game! "Some men are born to have money, and Old Tom t Avas one of them. I gave up trying to square accounts . avI th him after that. To this day my trotting horse acquaintances regard my picking of Big ; Sandy as the crowning effort of my tipping career. . Old Tom is dead long since and perhaps the other men Avill learn the truth some time." "That reminds me of something that happened to , Dave Pulsifer at old Monuouth Park twenty years ; ago," remarked a listener. "There Avas an aAvful I bore Avho annoyed Pulsifer. "Dave Avas having a big run of luck about that I time, Avinning nice after race Avitii Rapine, Grimaldi i and other horses in his stable. These horses Avere , much better than people generally supposed and j they Avere ridden by an unfashionable jockey named Goodale. "This fellow Im speaking about met DaA-e one day through a friend and for a long time lie bothered 1 him very much. Every day found the bore Availing to have his card marked, and finally Pulsifer ; determined to stop the nuisance. Accordingly . he put a cross opposite the name of a filly named j Lackawanna and told the man that she could not lose and to play her to the limit. "In the race in question Pulsifer bet a couple of f thousand on the favorite and he Avas talking with , his trainer, Donovan, at the conclusion of the race , Avhen lie Avas almost knocked down by the bore, Avhuse hands Avere full of winning tickets on Lacka-Avauua, I Avliose number Avas being hoisted on the . winning board. " Oil, thank you, thank you, Mr. Pulsifer. I got 00 to 1 and Ive Avon 0,000 on your tip, he , gasped. "Pulsifer Avas having his customary dry smoke, and lie almost swallowed the cigar, but he finally managed to say something about being damned if r . he ever saw such luck. I guess that was another case of fate." . "The best hunch in the Avorld," broke in another listener, "is Avlien you Avant to call a bet off and i the layer refuses to shift it to another horse. Thats the time you Avant to go the limit on your original horse, for in nine out of ten instances the " horse you bet on originally Avins. "Its a sign of Aveakness Avlien anybody can come along with a story of fast work or feed box c information and shift you. Ive seen it Avork out , more times than I can tell. Of course there are . exceptions to the rule, such as a horse being lame ; or coughing or something like that, hut in the main . your first choice is right. When Mr. Layer gets , f a grouch and doesnt want totake it off, pass on i to the next fellow Avhere your credit is good and paste him one on the eye for luck." "The Avay to bent the races, in my opinion," commented a quiet-looking man AVho had paid close attention to all that had been said, "is to employ the tactics of the Avife of a friend of mine. She goes to the races but seldom, just often enough to a keep up her interest in the game, and she always s says that the combination of horses, music and the B crowd Avas what Avon her allegiance, though, of f course, the zest of winning an occasional wager r Avas not a detriment by any means. "Ill never forget her first Avager. It Avas in the e 80s and I had a position at the track that paid me e Avell. One day as I Avas preparing to leaA-e for the B course my Avife handed me a twenty-dollar bill, saying that our friend had left it that morning Avith i instructions to put it on a horse called Harved in u the Lawnview Handicap that afternoon at Graves-end. "I laughed at this, for Harved had only got out t ; of the maiden class the Aveek before and his opponents in the LaAvnview AA-ere two such splended performers as Richmond, owned by the Dwyers, and Favor, from the barn of Green B. Morris. I Avanted J my wife to keep the money and return it, but she L demurred and I took it and started for the track. "The commission Avas about forgotten and I Avas coming out of the paddock when Charlie Reed, the s philosopher of the turf, happened along. I told the ? old gentleman of the twenty dollars and remarked 1 that it would lie a lot of fun to hand it back to J her the next day Taking me by the arm, the old man said gnwely: " Sonny, if somebody gies you money to bet on i a bay ox beating the best thoroughbred in the Avorld I put the money on the bay ox. I started for the e ring on the run and found 00 to 1 and Sol gave me e a ticket reading 1,200 to 20 Harved. There Avere 0 but three starters, McLaughlin on Richmond, Fitz-patrick " on FaA-or and a midget named Osier on II Harved. It was conceded that the race Avould be p good and very close, as Richmond and Fa-or, botli four-year-olds, Avere evenly matched and they had 1 the best riders in America at that time on their r backs. "When Caldwell dropped the flag Fitz and Jimmy V rode knee to knee, Avatching each other intently. Fitz had waiting orders and McLaughlin refused to o make pace. Osier accordingly shot to the front t Avith the fcatherweightcd Harved, and going up P the backstretch lie Avas a dozen lengths in the ? lead. The others realized at the end of the stretcli that the leader Avasnt coining back appreciably and , they set sail. "It Avas a breakneck pace around the upper turn n and through the stretch, and Favor stopped first, Richmond, under the lash, Avore doAvn Harveds lead a inch by inch, but the distance to be overcome AAas s too great and Harved Avon by a neck amidst the e wildest excitement. "The blunder on the part of the crack jockeys had made the outsider Ain. I Avas in a daze and a cold chill ran up and down my spine Avlien I realized the close call I had had. The soundness of Charlie Reids advice came home to me with con-e . vincing force as I tucked away 1,220 in my trous- ers pocket. "That cA-cning Avlien the lady and her husband ,i called and I had counted her winnings into her lap I said: " Now that its all over, tell us how you doped j it out. " Why, I dreamed that he Avon. I heard shout-n . ing, saw the populace much excited and distinctly v heard the cry Harved,. or as I thought. Harvard ,1 Avins, but upon looking at the entries I saw that t the horses name Avas llarved. Thats all." NeAV w. York Sun.
