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Anecdotes of "Joe Joe" The late Joseph Burke, for many years an entertaining writer on the turf and frequently an official on race tracks, could usually find a sound reason forany horse winning, and his favorite expression was, "And it was form, too." Joe Burke was a judge at the first Fort Eric meeting and on the race train going to the course one day Joe Joe hailed him with, "What do you know, Judge?" "Not a thing, Joe," answered Burke. "Thats form, too," came back Joe Joe. Domino, the unbeaten two-year-old of 1893, had a narrow escape in two of his race3. One was when he ran a dead heat with Richard Crokers Dobbins, in their famous match, and the other time was in the Futurity when S. W. Streets Galilee was only beaten a head by him, while Dobbins was a remarkably close third. It was before that running that "Doc" Street remarked to Rowe, who was training Domino for Mr. Keene, "Jimmy, thats a nice colt you are starting. How fast can he run?" "I dont know just how fast he can run, Doc," was the confident answer of Rowe. As the three colts came down fighting it out and Domino was only winner in the last stride over Galilee, Street, who never became excited over the running of a race, turned to Rowe and remarked dryly: "You know how fast he can run now, Jimmy." One of Joe Joes best stories was of the western bookmaker who had never learned how to read, though he made a big book and was something of a character. It was at Washington Park and a crowd was milling about his book when a deaf-mute handed up a ten-dollar bill, with the name of a horse written on a slip of paper. The bookmaker took the money and when he found the slip of paper he sung out: "Stop the deal. The game is blocked. Heres a guy that cant talk and I cant read." Joe Joe had a dream one Friday night and it was so vivid that he insisted on drawing his weeks pay in time to play the hunch, lie dreamed that he saw Storm King winning and he was rooting him home by shouting, "Come on my winter overcoat," the use to which he wanted to put his winnings. The salary was advanced and then when the Storm King race rolled around he was 1 to 5 in the betting. "Go ahead, Joe, and win yourself a pair of earmuffs," was the advice of Slattery.
