New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-22
THE HANDICAPPED.
A COLLOQUIAL ESSAY ON THE ART Oh
WEIGHING HORSES
At Monmouth F:

Young Chip-Pop, who's that standing on the steps
shaking his head at the jucgesl Is he the owner OF
the track1
Old Block-sh-h-h. my son: that's the handicapper.
Handicapped That slim with tho glasses
strapped to his eyes and a brown mustache and little
whskers on his chin, and straw hatthst the handi-
capperl Say. Pop. what does he dor
He tries to stop the favoritcs and let the short
horses win.7
"what's short horsel'
"0ne with long price,
"Pop, he looks scared Are they going to rule him
OFF,
"oh. no. He's only trying to keep out Of sight Of
Mr.. Belmont and Green Norris
"why?,
because they threaten 10 take his scalp for put
ting too much weig ht Lady Primrose and Favor.
See he's asking the judges to lend him bodyguard.
Como down to his Office and III show you something.
There, read that card the back OF his chair
"'Gentlemen in the audience requested not 70
shoot at the pianist What does that mean1'
It's sign he picked up in Deadwood, and 10
means that he hopes that the owners OF raceho1es
Will spare his fe.'
Pop, how does he put weight on horses1'
What IS his system OF hand Gaping, Well, I'll
try to tell you. In a blank book which be keeps
for the purpose you will find lot OF ladders, they
cacd-lsts Of horses and what they have done at
all distances, from six flrlongs to q mile and half
Each rung OF a ladder represents horse. The good
at the top, the bad the bottom. Now,
the rngs that is the horses continually climbing
over each other the racing advances Those
at the bottom keep climbing up, while those at tho
top keep climbing down. Most Of the people VINO
attend keep their eyes glued TO the top fellows,
because among them thy find the cracks, such Tho
Gard, Terra Gotta Kingston and Frenzi. The handi-
capper, knowing this places great many plugs at tho
bottom, that in the ladder upset Of tho
lghtweights at long price gets the better Of the
heavyweight
every day. and the heart OF the Handicapped Is filed
with Joy, while the public weep bucketfuls Of brine
What's all that shouting about1 cambridge beat Favori
What a dump for the talent! Favor l1o, cambridge
&C. There's handicap for you. my boy. Look at
the Handicapped; see how he chuckles. And now
look at Green Norris who owns Favor. See him
tearing his hair and paving the earth and hunting
for shotgun with which to annihilate the pianist.
Poor old Green. He had HIS plunge bet OF $500
Favor too and thought It stealing money from tho
downtrodden boomaker The public also thought
Favor 'clnch and all plunged let the stricken wolf
go gnash his teeth and howl out his fury. II was .
glorious handicap and cambridge at 20 to l. toos
"Wlll Favor climb up now, Popl,
oh, no. Favor climbs down a rung two. It's
cambridge who does the climbing up The Lightning
won't strike him again for several days. Let's 20
down TO the betting ring'
All right Who's that thick wasted man with tho
handsome face and the fierce mustache the one
ton OF that board with figures on it and horses
namesf Glasses strapped to his eyes, too and his
hair short and Tayl'
Why, that's another handicapped You mean
the one looking for long Odds running from slate
slatei That one in the gray clothesi That's Mr..
Mcintyre, Handicapped for the Brooklyn Jockey Club.
Used to be newspaper man excellent writer and all
that. Is he bettngi Impossible. Mcintyre bet
ting, haven't seen him make bet these twenty
years. Must be putting commission for the
Dryers. Bless my starsln
How does he handicap, PopfH
"Form at a Glance ny boy, Form at q Glance ~
whats that7'
"Form at a Glance'1 That's the name OF an Eng
lish book on the English system Of handicapping n
gives alphabetically complete record Of the PERFORM
ances of every horse in training. By glance at ID
one can tell almost to an ounce Just what given
horse can DO with any weight any dstance.s
Then Mr.. Mcintyre doesn't keep laddersf"
No Mr.. McIntyre's peculiarly is the lowest
possible weight for the best horses He losses In tho
plugs regardless of age or previous condition Of servf-
tude but makes things comfortable for the cracks
that all accept the weights and most Of them 90 10
the post II he can bring three or four top weights
together he IS content to let he plugs pull and 60
to Brighton His range is from 90 pounds to 1859
Are there any other handicappersi'
Certainly. Every club has its own handicapped
II is different in England, where the high salared
official Of tho only Jockey Club does nearly all tho
handicappng for the United Kingdom. Mr. Wealth
erby who held that post for many years, has lately
retired, outwearied by the worry Of the position.
Come over to the clubhouse and We'll have a peep
at Secretary Lawrence. There he goes now. See
that elegant, stylish stalking along with his head
down and his eyes striking the ground twenty feet
in front of hint Looks like he hasn't friend in tho
world and doesn't need any. You never see him
without those glasses hanging his shoulder.
Gets lots o. good things, guess, and plays them,
too Owners and trainers like to stand well with tho
secretary, though all their tips wouldn't persuade
Mr.. Lawrence 10 knock of pound in a handicap.
Jimmy everybody calls him behind his back
Jimmy Lawrence. He's Of the striking figures on
the turf / the like OF him for taking
notes. He doesn't bother with the winners and place
horsesthe newspapers tell him enough about them
but watches those that finish in the rIck and figures
out their chances with few pounds taken of their
backs. What he fails 10 the judges tell him,
the starter somebody stationed out in the field
It's mighty hard to get weight OFF by pulling horse
at Sheepshead. ! once knew an owner 10 have his
horse pulled six times in hopes OF getting him IN light
for 'hog-klng,' but Mr.. Lawrence too smart
to be caught The fellows who nursing tho
animal mad enough to scalp the willy landscapes
when letting the horse slip, he got only place. Mr.
Lawrence is not stiff with plugs Mr.. Mcintyre.
Brighton Beachers pull of lots Of good handlcaps at
sheepshead. I've seen 'em lose at Brighton ono
day and win at sheepshead the next Big
owners complain that the secretary Is too hard on
them, but Mr. Lawrence's opinion IS that weight
doesn't stop really good horse and he piles 1t on
accordingly
Arc owners never satisfied J"
Never They always kick against top weight
on the ground that It is top weight, whereas II their
horse gets in very light they that boy can
ride him. Oh, nobody ever knew owner 10 be
satisfied with handicap. Even Mr. Withers rebels
sometimes. So docs gOod-natured Mr. Galway. Tho
Dryers never protested so much as now.'
But don't they bet their horses all the samefs
"Of Green Morris thought Favor had
much the better OF cambridge until after the race.
Then he raved. They all act Just that way
50 Let's see: we've gone over Captain Coster Mr.
Mcintyre and Mr. Lawrence Yes, there's the veteran,
Mr. wheatly, grown gray in the service He does
handlcsppIng for the American Jockey Club the Mary.
land Jockey Club and the Saratoga Racing Association
Hes perhaps, overload Of long and pulling condl-