Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-22
RACE TRACK SLANG.
Some Of the Curious Expressions In
vented by Turfmen.

4 EXDTeSSIO08
| vented by Turfmen.
From American Notes and Queries
Race track talk is not always plain talk. II
is related that q wild and woolly westerner was
| once taken to an eastern race course, where
| the proceedings resemble Kilkenny fight. On
entering the betting ring the western man saw
| men and boys pushing and struggling with all
their might around a stall, and heard excited
men shouting at the top Of their lungs: -Four
to one on Proctor Knott!' whereupon he
| whips ont his revolver and bowls: Where is
the fight? I'm not going to stand by and SEQ
four to one on Proctor! He must have fair
play"
Perhaps the word in most common use on
the race track is Tip" If friend or acquaint-
| ance gives you some quiet and positive infor-
nation about this or that horse. this or that
stable. the information conveyed is called q
Tip" A straight tip" is knowledge from
an authoritative source. Synonymous with
tip Is the tn word I'D pointer" should you,
and take chance in the game, you
take what is called a ''fyer" Again.
if the odds offered by the 'bookies''
or bookmakers should happen to be S20 to
81, or so, you would also take what is termed a
"long shot" In other words, you would be
| taking ''long odds" or big chances. Once
more, on every race track there are persons
who for small pecuniary consideration will
sell you tips" Ordinarily these sellers Of
tips are called "tipsters." When they are in
the employ of the "bookies" they are known as
''touters." So, too, a 'capper" is q tipster
who leads the betting public astray.
A very peculiar but emphatic bit OF turf
slang il the word ''clinch." When a person
has cock sure thing. when he can pick out
without fail the winning horse. he is said to
have 'clinch." This word, taken from the
Spanish. is used by cowboys to denote the way
in which their saddles are frightened on their
ponies. There are no buckles on the belly
band; but in their place is ''clinch strap"
which passes through two rings and is tied by
the ''clinch knot" The western phrase ''clinch-
ing up" means simply tightening the girth
And it Is significant that on the race track you
hear the expression IAN air tight" The most
emphatic form is q "lead pipe clinch," but how
that in.ensifes the certainty l am unable to
say.
The turfman has quite a number of words
descriptive of the horses. An animal that has
been fixed" or "doctored." or one that runs
as if something was the matter, is called a
"stlff." Then there are Skates" A second
rate track in New Jersey used to have running
races during the winter months when the
track was covered with snow and ice. The
poor animals. with smooth iron shoes, would
often slide over the course in a curious kind of
fashion. Some turfmen declared that they
skated. Since then second-rate horses that
run in the mud or snow are called skates"
The expression mud horse" is often used in
sarcastic way. Thus. turfmen notice that
certain steeds only win on muddy track
when the right odds"-say forty or fifty to
one-can be obtained against them. However,
the popular term for an animal quoted at big
odds is a ''long horse;' short horse" is one
that is quoted at small odds. A common
phrase for horses that not run to win is that
they are not run for the stuff'-meanIng that
they are not out for the money or the purse
horse is said to ''go wrong" when he fails to
respond, or ne ''goes lame when he gets in
the HON stretch or 'in the ruck."
1t is not uncommon to hear the turfman ask
"Who is in the pigskin?" That is to say. who
is the '.jock" or rider? A jockey who makes a
mistake of one kind another is said to
make break" II the 'break" is particularly
bad or glazing. the jockey is a ''chump"-a
word not peculiar to turf talk
The wooden stalls from which the 'bookies
shout forth their alluring odds, form what is
known as the betting ring" Aspectator who
has made q wager and refuses to pay up after
he has lost it is everywhere known as a
.'welcher." The ''plunger" is one who stakes
his all upon q single race, or one who makes
big wagers out of proportion to his capital
Great draft" is winning number OF bets in
succession. turfman betting with money won
from the "bookies," is said TO be playing on
the velvet" When he goes .'broke," and
loses all his money, he is said to be walking
on his uppers."
Thus the turfman has invented new words as
he went along to express new wants or new
phases of sporting life He has turned nouns
into verbs and vice versa; has made new
adjectives and has adopted into his vocabulary
the everyday speech of all sorts and conditions
of men-cowboys, pioneers, diggers, gamblers,
stock spectators and corner boys. His slang
thus smacks of the mining camp. the stock ex-
change and the back woods. Consequently
turf talk is often rich in sound and meaning,
and at times strikingly graphic and picturesque
in appropriateuess