The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-08
BETTING SYSTEMS IN 1896.
the o PULLING SEASON FACED
M PUN7ERS IN YEARS.

or the Various syStenas for the Year.
The rncing system of 1906 has been one Of the
most puzzlinR that the average punter has had
TO face in many years, and this was foreshRd-
owed in the review of the season OF 1905 printed
in THE SUN. when It was pointed out that the
average OF winning fnvorites' price was 90 to 90
on. instead Of - to 10 against, rs in 1894. and
IL was stated that In 1890 numbers Of previ-
ously good systems of betting would DO upset
and knocked higher than the proverbial kite OF
Mr.. Gilderoy. The forecast concluded with the
statement that " this will necessitato now sys-
tens for next season or q very careful revision
of old ones" How true this prophecy was 10
shown by the fact that the average OF the prices
Of winning favorites for the current year Is 80
to SO on. 1t Is = dlficult matter for racing OK
perts 10 arrive at any satisfactory conclusion rs
TO the general ana great upset OF all records for
at least ten yenrs back.
The Morris Park spring meeting opened In q
wonderful way. For the first Ave days the
percentage of winning fnvorites was nearly 90.
and the %punter's millennium seemed at hand.
When the meeting closed the record was still
30 per cent, or well above the normal figure.
The even running OF first favorites continued at
tho following meeting at Gravesend. and the
average punter was doing well. The meeting
closed with II record OF 90 per cent. Then came
the Sheepshead spring meeting. of which the
writer said previous to it's opening: Great
care will have to be taken in making n calcula-
ton. . . on days will appear In all proba.
bllity at the commencement and the ending.
Just as usual" On the fourth day not o single
favorite won. seven going down in succession.
aud In tho last thirty-one races Of the
meeting only thirteen favorites won. The per-
~centaGe OF the meeting was As. This was the
great meeting for rank outsiders. A fiat bet of
SIS on each race would have won 5000 and lost
S34o. leaving the punter $3.50 ahead. Tho
writer said: Think of II. and avoid long shots
for the remainder or the season." Brighton
Beach came next, with a strong warning to
punters to go very slow. and the record of the
meeting Is that the percentage dropped from
A. in 1895. the lowest for that year. to 80 in
1890. Then zane the Sheepshead fall meeting.
and here n curious circumstance occurred. The
meeting opened with daily percentages of SO.
go, ell, 81. "a, So dhe normal figure being 42).
and then came ugly rumors OF combination and
what not. Investigations were held, and from
then 10 the close of the entire season at Morris
Park on Nov. 3. the winning of first favorites
and the running M of second f%avorites fell.
fell. fell. and IL the season were still on,
would probably be falling yet. Sheepshead
closed with Al per cent, Gravesend followed
close with a fall from AZ per cent. for 1895 to 80
per cent. and as for Morris Park, the daily per-
c~entages were so. 80, 3s. A, 80. IS, SO, 80. 81,
and 81, against 1898 with a record OF 40, SO. 81,
IS. AZ. az, 40. A. Al. and IL. What Is the eX-
PLANTATION ? Is 1t possible that the talent can
have fallen of In its knack of selecting sue
cessful first favorites. and that the big money
bettors. who 20 SO far toward making . selec-
tion a short-priced favorite. have followed in
their hating and erroneous steps2 The handi-
cappers appear to have done but little better,
ard the ~tipsters in the daily papers have been
rs unsuccessful as Virgins with the weatt or.
Taking mp the meetings of the year. the av-
erage price against the first favorites winning
at Morris Park was Ills on. and in this cal
c~ulation is included Henry OF Navarro at lao
on May 81. making the record practically lila
on. Gravesend had q better average with Ii.
Sheepshead did still better with an average of
II, including, on June "a, Requital at lis
on. ana on June 30 Margrave at 1-25 on.
Brighton Beach tried to make up for its scanty
winners BY an average of 1o-11. or nearly 6-5.
The Shespshead fall meeting still kept the ball
moving with an average of 11-9 against. The
Gravesend fall average was 1911 against and
the Morris Park fall average Ii. So 1t would
seem that, although the number OF winning
f~avor!tes at certain meetings has fallen off and
the percentage figures dropped nearly to
zero. the average price has remained al
most stationary. In 1895 and 1894 there
was not one day during the entire season
when Mt least one favorite did not win. and 1t
was said by the writer that two consecutive
years favoring the most iniqu!tous Of systems
chat of doubling up) will be the downfall Of
many in the year to come 1t was not. how
ever, dreamed to what al extent this prophecy
would I've verified. There was during the season
just closed only one day, June 81. on which not
q single favorite won; but there were sixteen
II. Sept. !. 10. 90. 30, Oct. IS. 81. 81. on which
only one favorite won; there were twenty-five
three won. four days when Ave won. one DAY.
june 10. when six won. and one day. June IS.
when the sequence OF losing days is notedI
The worst setbacKE to the talent at the spring
June g. the last two days. when Runaway at
~. Glenmoyne at "a Ianone nj ID. and
first three. and when in the next race Hand
spring at 65--l00 ran second 10 Hastings at II
10; AZ the GIavesend spring meeting seven
favorites went down IN succession on June o
Trancls; Al is-5. Roorsiesta At As. Hornpipie at
when. out Of thirteen consecutive races, Hand
favorIie to finish in front. At the sneepshead
Epring meeting; seven f~avorites went down. ON
S"o. MeCaisrty stable at IS. Gienmoyne
a. ) The Dragon q. ia-5: Long
Brighton Brhsn Beach eHI a: usual usual supplied Mas5ed the banner inner
record Of successive losses. no fewer than nine
when Cn,sette at e--5.. Brandywine at ii. The
Swain at s-55o M~eado%ih1rpe at Ii, The
a n'@ @0a. T. Hen ed Edsr hs at i"s' :" and I'd Ta hsqs @S.t at
% failed to connect. Then came the defeat
e LADY An InsI & Si R = a AMANDA sm II and ID t e. ot fds1
more defeats Of the first favorite: Then came
hve consecutive defeats on Ang. "a; five moro
three days with nineteen races; in which only
three favorites won. At the Sheepshead fall
meeting. tho most consistent OF the s,a.on.
there was only ore disastrous day. Sept when
Lock Ness at g-5. Rubicon at Ii. Salmak at
As. ReIuital At Id. and Ben, Elder at 10.
went down. At this meeting of fourteen days
there were only three days when more than two
fay0rltes did not get, the money. The Gravesend
fall meeting opened with tho fAvorites losing
the fret five races on the second day, Arabian
At T-5. Lineage at 81, Ben Elder at DO, The
Manxman at S-5. and Rubicon at 81. This
was followed by six losses on Sept. 10, ~. when
Roundsman at 1875. Hazlet at 80, Regulator
At 1873. Salmak at 8-5. HI Daddy at IS.
and keenan, at 4-5 all went down to win out
with Princess Flavia SIS. At the Morris Park
fall meeting tho maximum numbers of consecn-
tive losing favorites were four on Oct. 10,
Tragedian at Is, The Winner at 80. Ameer
nj ITO, Deerslayer at 6-5; on Oct. 22-24.
lothian at IL, Ramiro at 10. Deerslayer at