Alex Ullman Was Popular Operator: Had Scant Knowledge of Horses, but Adopted a Method That Made Him a Fortune., Daily Racing Form, 1918-02-09

article


view raw text

ALEX ULLMAN WAS POPULAR OPERATOR OPERATORHad Had Scant Knowledge of Horses but Adopted a Method That Made Him a Fortune New York February 8 Tho recent death of Jtlrs Alex Ullman recalls to the jniiulsof oldtime turf ¬ men incidents in Alex Ullmans turf career that are of more than ordinary interest Though Mr Ullman prided himself on having little or no knowledge of horses he was for several years one of the largest as well as the most successful operators in the country His motto was extreme courtesy to all no matter whether their transactions were large or small and by these methods he built up a clientele that included some of the most prominent patrons of the turf turfIn In handling his turf affairs Mr Ullman adopted methods peculiarly his own His plan of operation was to wait until the market had settled before posting his offerings and once they were posted it was only on rare occasions that he refused a com ¬ mission missionI I dont know anything about tho merits of horses and dont want to was his frequent remark All I wisli to learn is the state of the market and if I can see my way clear to earn a little money in a speculative way and by honest and careful business methods then I go to work and wager according to existing conditions That is my principle Daily principleDaily Mr Ullman would perch himself on the reg ¬ ulation stool in vogue years ago and his clients would approach him with commissions Mr Ull ¬ mans reply usually would be Certainly sir I will accommodate you and that would end the transaction until the race was over and settlement made according to custom After a days racing no one could tell by his expression or conversation whether he had won or lost lostDuring During the entire time lie operated on the turf Mr Ullman never wearied his mind bv formulating prices or trying to pick winners The rush of early speculation meant nothing to him For the first few minutes of price juggling he would probably be in the center of the ring or on the lawns talking with friends AVlien the market had settled he would walk into the midst of the surging elbowing crowd and take his stand His assistants would bring him the market values of each horse and report on busi ¬ ness others had transacted It was not until he had assimilated the condition of affairs that he would begin operations That these methods were success ¬ ful is indicated by the fact that he is one of the few men who have retired from the scenes of turf speculation with a comfortable fortune


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1918020901/drf1918020901_1_11
Local Identifier: drf1918020901_1_11
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800