Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1890-10-25
THE BROK EN- LINK HANDICAP

THE BR0KENLINk HANDICAP
There are more ways of running a
horse to suit your book than pulling his
head off in the straight Some men
forget this. Understand clearly that all
racing is rotten, as everything connected
with losing money must be. Out here,
in addition to its inherent rottenness it
has the merit of being two thirds sham;
looking pretty on paper only. Every
one knows everyone else far too well
for business purposes. How on earth
can you rack and harry and post man
for his losngs, when you are fond of
his wife, and live in the same station
with him? He says, ION the Monday
following" 81 can't settle just yet !"
You say, "all right, old man, and think
yourself lucky if you pull off 900 out of
a 1000 rupee debt Any way you look
at it, Indian racing is immoral, and ex-
pensively immoral Which is much
worse. If man wants your money, he
ought to ask for it, or send around a
subscription list, instead of juggling
about the country with an Australian
larrikin; a "brumby" with as much
breed as the boy; brace of chumars in
gold laced caps; three OF four ekka
ponies with hogged names, and switch
tailed demirep of mare called Arab
because she has kink in her flag. Rae
ing leads to the shrof quicker than any
thing else. But if you have no con-
science, and no sentiments and good
hands, and some knowledge of pace,
and ten years experience of horses, and
several thousand rupees a month, I
believe that you can occasionally con-
trive to pay your shoeing bills.
Did you ever know Shackles-p. w. G.
13-19-coarse loose mule like ears-bar-
rel as long as gate post-tough as a
telegraph wire-and the queerest brute
that ever looked through bride? He
was of no brand, being one of an ear
nicked mob taken into the Bucephalus at
e4-10s. head to make up freight, and
sold raw and out of condition at Calcutta
for Rs 275. People who lost money on
him called him "brundy;" but if ever
any horse had Harpoon's shoulders and
the Gins temper, Shackles was that
horse. Two miles was his own particu-
lar distance. He trained himself, ran
himself and rode himself; and, if his
Jockey insulted him by giving him hints,
he shut up at once and bucked the boy
off. He objected to dictation. Two or
three of his owners did not understand
this, and lost money in consequence. At
last he was bought by man who dis
covered that, if race was to be won,
Shackles, and Shackles only, would win
it in his own way, so long as his jockey
sat still This man had riding boy
called Brunt-a lad from Perth, West
Australia-and he taught Brunt, with
trainers whip, the hardest thing jock
can learn-to sit still, and to keep on
sitting still. When Brunt fairly grasped
this truth, Shackles devastated the coun-
try. No weight could stop him at his
own distance; the fame of Shackles
spread from Amir in the south to Ched-
putter in the north. There was no horse
like Shackles SO long as-he was allowed
to do his work in his own way. But he
was beaten in the end; and the story of
At the lower end of the Chedputter
race course, just before the turn into the
straight, the track passed close to a
couple of old brick moulds inclosing
funnel shaped hollow. The big end Of
the funnel is not six feet from the rail-
ings on the off side. The astounding
popularity of the course is that if you
c+o,J Of opo ,,artic,,lar ,laca n bout holf
a mile away, inside the course, and speak
at ordinary pitch, your voice just hits
the funnel of the brick mounds and
makes a curious whining echo there.
A man discovered this one morning by
accident while out training with friend.
He marked the place to stand and speak
from with a couple of bricks, and he
kept his knowledge to himself. Every
popularity of a course is worth remem-
bering in country where rats play the
mischief with the elephant litter and
Stewards build jumps to suit their own
stables. This man ran very fairish
country bred, a long, racking high mare
with the temper of fiend, and hepaces
of an airy wandering seraph-a drifty,
glidy stretch. The mare was, as deli
cate tribute to Mrs. Reiver, called "The
Lady Regula Baddun Or, for short,
Regula Baddun.
Shackles' jockey, Brunt, was quiet,
well behaved boy, but his nerve had been
shaken. He began his career by riding
jump races in Melbourne, where a few
Stewards want lynching, and was one Of
the jockeys who came through the awful
butchery-perhaps you will recollect it
of the Maribyrnong Plate. The walls
were colonial ramparts-logs of jarrah
spiked into masonry-with wings as
strong as church bu1tresses. Once in his
stride horse had to jump or fall. He
could not run out In the Maribyrnong
Plate 12 horses were jammed at the
second wall. Red Hat, leading, fell this
side, and threw out The Glen, and the
ruck came up behind and the space be-
uyipo and u,inD woo ono ctriI0.