Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-01-02
HOODOOS OF THE TRACK.
The Various Superstitiens That Gov
ern Race-Horse BetterS.
Does Sense or Nonsense Have Most to
Do In Ruling the Worlds Affairs?

ago the COrIueI0S ana OJ StuOOIeS along
the line of the New York & Long Branch
railroad were alive with these highly civ
llzed and sagacious friends of the farmer,
and whenever a race train sped past there
was a vast chorus of caws and such a
1utterlng of wings as drew heads out of
windows from one end Of the train to the
other. And then the old stagers were
won't to remark one to another: 1.-The
all-black wins to-day" No better or safer
tip could have been desired by those old
time followers of the turl. When all-black
rose on the wing nothing could have in
duced them to invest their money IN any
thing but Brokdale horsts. If a person on
the way to the race-tracE happens to run
across a United States flag in such a place
as to have his attention strongly directed
toward it, his first thought is: Has Cas-
over the programme looking for a Chester
commonly spoken of as the national colors,
but in reality they a1e more French
than American, and more Dutch than
either.
When a betting man lo,es nerve after a
series of heavy losses he will accept a tip
from anybody and anything. A young
man who doesn't know one horse from
another was approached in the paddock a
few days ago by a New Yorker who bets
from $500 to 81 900 on q race and who is
regarded as a successful plJmger.
For heavens sake, give me awinner?"
he implOred. Il haven had a place horse
In two weeks.
He was completely unstrmg and should
have been IN bed. As he spoke acrimson
veil, such as pail women wear over their
hats and faces to heighten their color,
foated down from the Bridge of Sighs-as
that part of the grand-stanl between the
clubhouse and the secretary S office is call
ed-and fell at his feet. He picked it up
and noticed that it had a ] narrow, white
border. At that instant Heekler's bugle
sounded the horses to the post and Tenny
passed him, Hamilton up, wearing the red
and white on the Pulsifer establishment.
He sought no better tip, but hurried to the
ring and put up 81, 800 on the winner of
the Choice stakes, getting even money. He
held to the veil until the race was run,
then called a messenger boy and sent it to
the young woman who hadlost it.
Many persons have an odd fancy for
backing horses according to certain num-
bers on the programme, but the reasoning
and adoptions of no two men are the same.
Suppose No. 2 wins the race and No. 6
runs second. A concludes by a method of
reasoning peculiar to himself that No. 6
must win the second race because No. 6
finished second in the fist. B argues that
No. 2 is going to win al. the races because
No. 2 won the the first. G, who believes
in arithmetical progression, says that No.
3 will take the second rare, No. 4 the third
81 ~ IL IL 7
progression, contends that No. 4 will be
successful in the second, No. 8 in the
third, and No. 16 in the fourth. If No. l
should win the first race and and No. 2
the second there is likelyto be a unanimity
third for two reasons: First, one and two
make three; second, horses always finish
one-two-three.
A spectator in doubt resorts to innum-
cradle devices in his search for tips. If
only two horses go to the post he probably
hips a dime, heads for one, tails for the
other, to decide which is the winner. If
there are ten starters he writes their re-
spective numbers on small bits of paper,
shakes them in his two hands, presses the
palms close together, opens them and
blows the numbers away. The last one to
leave his hand is the winner.
Women who bet have their f~avorite
messenger boys, and will allow no others to
take their commissions. ooh, where is
my lucky boy?" is the anxious inquiry
that is heard over and over again. If the
lucky boy fails to turn up there is no bet.
Sticking a pin through the programme
from back to front is a popular method of
picking winners, and it is about as good a
way as any in these degenerate times. Of
all tips that which is known at the track
as the niger tip is the best. When an
accident occurs at the starting posi-, and a
jockey finds it necessary to dismount,
there is a great scramble among the super
%stitious to bet on his horse. Many times
this season this tip has been successful.
1t is very remarkable, very mysterious. 1t
may be possible that a readjustment of the
saddle or a Tightening of the girth infuses
a sresh spirit In the horse. At the last
Cedarhurst meeting Donald, an outsider
In betting, spread-eagled a field of fast
horses. There was a long delay at the
post and much breaking away, in the
course of which Donald's saddle slipped
back till the girth became loose. The back
ers of the horse saw it and in their hearts
blamed the Jockey, who seemed wholly I'M
COllSClOuS Ol Uu0 S1UudGlOu. 1lDdllN dn dU-
tendant called the starters attention to
mount while the trainer moved the saddle
forward to its proper place and frightened
the girth. Donald got off last, went
through his horses like a dose of salts, and
won hands down.
Many persons are playing the black
horse this year because of a superstitious
notion that it is time for the blacks to have
an inning. They have Jared moderately
with Britannia, Burlington, Onaway,
Pontiac. Reclare and Ralph Bayard,
Few betting men have the courage to
wager their money after having seen a
cross-eyed person. Such an occurrence is
a hoodoo of the worst sort. Personal con-
tact with a hunchback brings good lock.
Women have been seen to leave their
seats in the grand-stand and rush down to
the lawn for the purpose of touching a
hump On a dwarf's back. Even August
Belmont is believed to be superstitious,
because he employs a clever yung hunch-
back to place his commissions In the bet
ting ring. This reverence for the deformed
is not confined to the turf. When Sarah
Bernhardt first visited the United States
she was met down the bay by a score of
well-known disciples Of Thespis. In the
company was a hunchback, whom | shall
call X, a modest, retiring little man, who
would have liked to remain somewhat in
the background during the reception
which took place on board the steamer.
But this privilege was denied him, for the
divine Sarah singled him out at a glance,
and casting etiquet to the winds, rushed
through the ranks of his companions, took
his hand in hers, and shook it efusively,
at the same time gently stroking the hump
between his shoulders. Having done this