The evening times., 1896-11-23
RINGERS AMONG RUNNERS
Reversals Of Form at Benning Revive
Stories of Tricks on the Track.
TANNER HAD MANY COLORS
Thousands of Dollars Won by the
Brannon Brothers with the Horse
of Many Aliases-Joe sherlock
Turned the Trick on the ST.
st. Asaph Course.

One of the peculiar forms of turf crook
edness Of which little is known Is tha1
OF ringing as the substitution oi d
horse OF known merit for one of !Etie
quality, or the giving of faise redisrce
has come TO lie called. Ii offers such an
undoub. ed way OF getting the lookmakSrs'
money-if detec ton can be aVoidei-
for il is letting On IO-;o-l shot at Souu
odds, and il requires constant aierthess On
the part of racing officials 10 prevent
this form Of fraud. There are many cases
on The trotting turf, for the conditions there
are singularly favorable TO ringing" but
the running turf has also diseases.
1t is true they are comparatively Few,
hut the history of nearly all has hecn
iearncG-.hat is, SO far as the big tracks
are concerned. There may he cases nn
the bush circuits, hut as big money
cannot lie Won there, they an cunt 10 hut
little. Ringing is an Erflish practice,
the most famous case being tnat OF Running
Rein, the winner of the English Derby
early in the century. II seems odd to
think that the greatest event Of the turf
should ever have been won by IA ring
err" hui such is the case.
Running Rein pariCl ated in 're of the
greatest coups Of turf hiEt ory, Landing MIL
lions for the / otters, for an Unlimited
amount can lie wen on the great English
event. He was "A four-ycar-'ld, Who lad
never started, and was sui st!Iuted iur an
other horse eligible 10 the liS race at Ep-
som The discovery cane though the rf-
forts of the plo.ters to completely hiic
their tracks.
After winning the Derby they shot Run
uing Rein, and buried his Iody in a seClddcd
spot But the action was Observed, an
Investigation fol owed, the horses boiy
was disinterred, and it was found by his
teeth that he was a i-ycar-rid.
VIII Brannon, the brains Of the broth
orc f1 sripssip,r'' . n
the American turf, told friend "A short
while ago that he had quit the game be
cause he tad found ii III, rc profitable TO
race horses lcatimat ei y-pI acing them
out Of their ella s. for a time. " here they had
no chance; then putting them where they
belonged and getting the money. Several
days ago he reiterated his declaration.
CROoKEDNESs BAD BUSINESS
"A man never realizes until lie is out
side the gate said he, w hat a mistake
lie has made 10 indulge in CroCkcdneSs on
the turf. There are plenty of ways Of max
ing money legitimateiy and honestly there
Had never run Polk BadGet | would prob
ably have run another learned my lesson
by experience, and is hard one. have
no chance to get back on the turf, and
know it. but my advice to everybody is To
have nothing To do with sharp practices on
the turf. and to fight clear Of ringers
When Judge Carter rendered his leCi-
sion diSqualifyins Golden Gate. and burn
ing up the money bet on him, he broke up
the ringing business. for he set a pr.ce
dent that all judges will follow 1t showed
that discovery meant the loss of all money
involved, and no one can ever appreciate
what efforts are required 10 prevent plans
slipping out"
II was the Polk Badget case at Latonia
that brought the ringers into such great
prominence a few years ago. The three
Brannon brothers-Will, Rich and johnny
had long been on the Western turf, and We're
known as shrewd hOrsemcn and trainers.
Johnny had a string at Chicago, While VIII
and Choperatcdint the East Several years
before, in this city, VIII Brannon claimed
| that he was blackmailed in selling race
by W. II. De Long TO prevent the winner
being run up. He hided his time. and it
came in 1891 at Brighton Beach, when he
ran second in "A selling race TO Tanner,
supposed to belong to De Long.
Brannondemandednp ynot to run up the
horse. and De Long aCCcded. But, unknown
to Brannon, the owner of Tanner was not
lie Long, but E. II. Battersby, treasurer Of
the Brighton Beach track When De Long
went to him for the money to pay Brannon
Battersby learned the cause, and had the
offender ruled off.
While still in good standing BrannOn had
made an unsuccessful attempt to run a
ringer and, once beyond the pale, he
speedily ConCoctcd a Scheme. Within day
Tanner had been bought for 81 .0Oo. a check
by Jere Weinberg, the New York lawyer,
being given in payment. The next day he
was on train en- route for the West
1t was ON September l, 1891, that the
first famous coup WAS made.
FIRST FAMOUS COUP.
Tanner painted up in crude fashion, was
entered i'll the second race of the day as
Polk Badget, by Quicksote Eva NJ, owned
b Y the Rocky Creek stables. Hewas backed
for "A fortune at the track and in every
puolroom. He Won in a walk. Two days
later the officials learned through the news
papers that Il ringer" had been run. They
traced The horse to Gallatin, Tenn, tn g ori ii
nal home of the Brannons; thence east
ward. and finally located him in a barn
a / Jersey City, n. J. As a result the three
Brannons and Weinberg Were ruled off.
This racemarked the advent of tn famous
ringer Tanner. He was a bay gcltiiag.
five years of age at that time, by Long
Tom-Mullie Hart (BobolinkD. He was a
very fast horse, one capable, when keyed
up, of seven furlongs in 1:21 IL over
Latonia track. or OF a mile in 1:I1 with
medium weight up. He was very SYM
metrcal horse, but had mark that any
one who knows him can recognize him
by. on the right side, Just back of the
shoulder, is a space foot in circunfer
enCe on which there is no hair.
Willie Midgely rode him one day when
the money was at the Beach, and it was n
desperate finish. Midgcly spurred him
in fearful fashion at this point. After the
race inflammation set in, and when the
horse recovered this tc!ltaie spot was left
uncovered with hair. BrannoD then put in
his time experimenting in methods as 70
how to bleech and dye horses hair As
a result Tanner has since appeared as Il
chestnut, black, and an iron gray; in
fact, sorrel is the only color that cannot
he successfully initiated.
After the Polk Badget race Tanner dis
appeared from view as far as can he
learned, until he bobbed up at Detroit in
Auguts, 1892, as Bill Brown, a chestnut