Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-10-12


tracks are talked OF, and when they ma
terialize they are certain to be followed
by talk of two or three more. None OF
thsm complain of poverty of attendance
At most of them the bookmakers flourish,
and the betting reaches proportions which
make observers wonder where the money
| comes from. The drift of overwhelming
testimony is that sooner or later the man
who bets will have nothing to bet with,
but that doesn't lessen the betting The
old Spanish proverb, when the pitcher
goes to the well, woe unto the pitcher
when the well goes to the pitcher, woe
unto the pitcher; whatever befalls, woe
unto the pitcher" has been modified so
that it concludes, "whatever befalls, woe
unto the BETTER" but he hourishes his
money in the bookmaker's face with more
pertinacity than ever.
On the other hand, it is to be said, how
ever, that the bookmaker is far from hav-
ing everything his own way. He is fair
| game to fly at, and many time his wings
are clipped. The "good things" of the
track do not all "come his way" The
men who have 'sure thing" and who
sometimes make it sure in fashion not
always above criticism, regard them as
! legitimate prey. Bookmakers as a rule
know how to keep their own counsel, but
| met communicative member of the pro-
| fession few days ago and found him quite
| interesting.
1--WE taken in as much as $4,000 on a
race" he said. 'Oh, yes, you can tell just
how you stand if you have rapid and ac-
| curate arithmeticians behind you. They
ought to be able to let you know where
you are in few seconds; but the trouble
is that book can't always be made to suit
the maker. The public will play some
horses almost to the exclusion of others,
and so he doesn't get chance to even his
book up. The result is that he has to
take risks, though not to the same extent
as the man who picks out one horse as a
winner. The principal trouble with most
of the men in my business is that they are
gamblers. There is little or no risk in
bookmaking when it is conducted on
sound principles and when the maker does
not yield to the temptation to make big
money by risking big money but few Of
US are proof against it. The man in my
business who eliminates as far as pos
sible the element of speculation must be
content with smaller returns, but is sure
of a fortune in the long run. A book
maker can minimize his losses only by
cutting down his possible winnings; but
as he is human, like everybody else at
race-track, he goes for big stake, and
frequently gets cleaned out I've lost
$4,000 or $4,000 at dip, and many
day Pve cleared more than that. Fll
tell you something that may surprise
you, though | won't mention any names.
There is bookmaker who is supposed to
be coming money. | know Just how he
stands up to date He is behind SO far
this season not less than $4,000. Yes,
he is plunger, aud he'll get it all back.
lent him SIS, 900 last week, and he can
have $4,000 more. He'll get it all back,
and more, too, as soon as he makes up his
mind to go little SLOW"
The gentleman who thus took me into
his confidence added that on one race his
receipts were $1,000 and his outlay exactly
$500. The latter sum was earned by
$40 bill placed on horse against which
he offered thirty to one He is a tall
gentleman of dark complexion, with Ro-
man nose, Episcopal side whiskers, cleri-
cal looking clothes and pallid face He
has nerve enough to throw a fire-brandN in
the face of Polyphemus, and honor enough
to vindicate his word at the expense of
every dollar that recognizes him as pro-
prietor. A stranger would as soon think
of taking him for gambler as he would of
installing him for a Chinaman. | saw
him walk into Spencer's Club House, at
Saratoga, and say:
"Pll 90 you thousand on the red"
"All right" said the bland gentleman
addressed.
The ball dropped into black hole, and
a thousand dollars dropped into Mr..
Spencer's pocket.
One side of the picture not usually held
up for public edifcation is that of the man
who starts stable without bank account
sufficiently large to face the music of dis
aster. A case in point is horseman with
a string of promising animals and Just
enough money to lure him into the bust
ness. One of the horses was shot after its
first race. A muddy track and broken
shoulder tell the story of its fate. Another
went lame" and never had a chance to
respond to the persuasion of pair of rae
ing spurs. A third had the consoling habit
of acting so badly at the post that the
starter took pardonable delight in leav-
ing it there. As for the rest, four in num-
Der, they were beastly tractable and slow.
One of them finished last in a race for
horses that had never won a race, and
none of the others would have finished
first in the same event How he has
managed to drag through so far this sea-
son is as much a mystery to himself as
anybody else. 1t bothers him to find
enough to pay his entrance fees. When
he has run the gauntlet of every harrow
ing experience that his exasperating stu
alton can provoke he will take refuge
under the auctioneer's hammer, and ask
fate to play for him on any string but a
string of horses.