St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-05
TURF SUGGESTIONS.
Queer Signs and Omens That Dcs
termine Men in Placing Their

ulSInOunIeu. lue Sduulo BHlH was
frightened.
us that Anderson" shouted hum
dred spectators, and, hearing that it
was, they rushed for the betting ring to
back Fides. the horse Anderson was
riding.
This is the latest superstition among
turfmen, who are. perhaps, the most
supersttious of all gamblers. Every
time Anderson or Garrison dismountsf
from his horse at the post an army OF
men try to get another bet on. The dis.
mounting is termed putting on the
cinch.
This superstition was started at
Gravesend on May IS. Anderson was
riding Mr.. BelmOnt's FLY Fides in a
handicap sweepstakes race. The bet
ting against Fides was three to One.,
While at the post, Juggler, another
horse starting in the same race, seized
Anderson by the leg and threw
When he recovered he remounted
Fides and rode her to VIC
tory. The superstitious bore this in
mind. Two days later Anderson rode
| Joe Lee i'll handicap sweepstakes. At
| the post he diSmOunted and had the
girth frightened. A hundred bettors
| rushed to the betting ring and backed
Joe Lee. He won, and they were
happy. On May %, in the race for the
Bedford stakes, Garrison dismounted
| from PadiSha and afterward won the
race. Now, whenever either of these
| two jockeys dismounts when at the
| post, the superstitious gamblers cannot
| place their money in the hands of the
| bOokmakerS fast enough, and they claim
| that they always win.
How is it that gamblers, and espe-
cially gamblers on the turf, are so super
StitiOuS?"
This question was asked an old race
goer recently, but he denied altogether
that they were superstltiOus. He SAID:
Backing horses in race is all game
of chance. You may have the very best
horse in the race and may back him
heavily, but through some mishap, such
as the horse being pocketed. or slipping
these mishaps make the chance in the
game, and there are certain signs that
all race goers believe In that tell when
to back certain horse and when to let
him run without carrying any money.
Why, my dear boy, would no more
think of backing a horse that these
signs and omenS said would not win
than would attempt to fly"
"How is it, then, that you don't al
ways win? Are the signs sometimes
wrong?"
"Never The signs are always right,
but we don't always read them cor.
reetly, and even when we do sometimes
think we know best. Then we have to
suffer for our conceit."
''Just tell me of some of the signs
that you go BY"
First of all, never make bet un.
less | have my mascot with me. 1t is
S. gold-piece. If l should happen to
leave it at home then | just watch the
horse race. Sometimes | have tried to
win when l have not that gold-piece
with me, but always lost, and so now
have given it up. | found that
gOld-piece several years ago when
coming through the gates at Jerome
Park. only had s. bill with me that
day, and in the first race | placed it on
a horse that won and paid S56.75 for S..
/ concluded that the IS gold-piece was
meant to bring me good luck and deter
mined to keep it. That day | won S76O,
and ever since then l have never been
without money. 1t is always a sure
sign of ill-luck with me if get out OF
bed in the morning on the right hand
side. And it would be a great deal bet
ter for me if would get right back
again and sleep all day long. If, on the
other hand. / get out on the right side
and my right foot touches the floor first
then that day will be good one for me
and am perfectly safe in playing the
races"
Many believe that a hunchback is a
sure sign of luck. In this superstition
turfmen do not agree with actors. Many
an actor has refused to play because he
has seen hunchback in the audience,
and he believes it sure sign of ill luck.
Turfmen think differently. They sayif
you are in search of good luck never let
hunchback pass without touching the
hump, no matter how lightly-the tip OF
the fingers will do. Then, no matter
how much you nave lost on previous
races, you will win it all back again, and
much more besides. Some say that you
must wish for luck &C the same time you
touch the hunchback, and in order to
work the charm the hunchback must be
aware OF your action.
CrOSS-eyed persons bring good and
bad luck with them. If a man sees a
crOss-eyed woman he will have good
luck, but this cross-eyed woman will
bring bad luck to another woman. In
the same way a crOSS-eyed man will
bring good luck to a woman and bad
luck to a man. Some persons claim
that they carry maseOts that will pro-
tect them from the ill-luck caused i'm
meeting a cross-eyed person of their
own sex.
All patrons of the race-course are
firm believers i'm the old superstition
about seeing the new moon first. 1t is
good luck to see it first over the right
shoulder. bad luck to see it over the
left shoulder, but best luck of all to
look it full in the face with money in
your pocket. The money must be
turned over while looking at the moon
and it will double itself during the next
twenty-fOur hours.
There are even more unlucky num-
bers in the doubling Thomas calendar
then there are days. Every one, of
course, is familiar with the fatality said
to surround the number 13. If there
are thirteen horses starting in race the
one numbered Is has to be an extraor-
binary good one before they will backit,
and then they claim that nine times out
of ten something will happen that will
prevent his winning the race and tho
money. Many believe that luck sur
rounds certain numbers. Some will
favor the number z. Talking of this
number, turfst recently said: Il be-
lieye in number z. / discovered it some
years ago by dreaming of it. On the
following morning l spoke of it to
frlend ana ne told me to go to the
races and try my luck by playing
the horses numbered seven on tho
programme. | went, and num-
Der won the first race. I
won Sc, as it was the favOrite. The
horses numbered seven in the next two
races did not start, but they did in all
the other events, and | went home with
S475 in my pockets. Now, don't con-
tend that because dreamed of No. II
won, but L do contend that had not
dreamed of the same should never
have won. No. z is lucky with me in
everything. If l board AGAR No. i'm
the morning luck sticks to me all day.
In fact, every time l see No. l am
lucky" Others play No. 1, or any num-
Der that they think brings luck. Some
persons who play the races never like
to win the first race. They will make
small bet on some horses and expect to
lose, After that they will Dlay heavily