Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1896-11-21
HIS TELEPATHIC TIP.

lU was tHe luOIIlllS VI tIo berDy uhy,
and had just looked into the Office be-
fore starting for EPSON. l was at the
time on the staff of The Sporting Cou-
rier, and, besides giving what is known
in the sporting world as midday
finals,' usually did" the home meet
ings.
The message surprised me, for it ran ::
"Don Pero is bound to win. I"
l read it again and again. Don Pero
was rank outsider and had been look
ed upon by everybody as not having the
slightest chance of place. For con-
firmation one had only to look at the
--latest London betting" to find that the
horse stood at so to l.
Yet Dixey, the trainer, had never be-
fore misled me, and 1 could not help
feeling that there must be something
in it.
l had previously decided that would
give as my final selections the first and
second favorites and a good outsider for
third place. But this telegram upset all
my calculations, and yet I felt that I
could not altogether ignore it.
l sat down at my desk and wrote out
my copy. 1t ran as follows:
"There is no denying the fact that
the favorite is in excellent condition,
but think that he will be beaten by a
horse whose qualifications have hitherto
been completely overlooked. I have no
hesitation i'll placing the first three
horses in this order: () Don Pero, (2)
Windemere. (3) Neryine. ("
l was just thinking about starting
when the chief sent for me.
"What does this mean, Mr.. Good
man?' he said, as entered the room.
"This' evidently referred to my MS,
which he held in his hand.
care you referring to my Derby tip,
sir?'' 1 asked
"But it's 80 to 1 chancer'
81 can't help that" replied, rather
haughtily perhaps, "but 1 am assured
that he is bound to win
"Assurcd! BY whom, pray?''
''Pardon me-" l answered, "but my
information is obtained from strictly
private source. I'll alter the wording of
the paragraph, if you like, but should
prefer that it goes in as it is. "
Il have no wish to interfere in your
department., replied the chief. ''Let it
stand, if you are sweet upon it. If it
comes off, it will be all right. If not
well, we shall be the laughing stock Of
every ybot.y from the Jockey club down
to the youngest Newmarket TOUT
l did not think that it was worth
while having an argument about the
matter, so took an opportunity of clos
ing the interview and took a cab to
Waterloo. When I reached the course,
l made the best of my way to the pad
dock in the hope Of seeing Dixey and
having a talk with him before racing
began, but he was nowhere to be seen.
| soon found that some of my col
leagues wanted to have chat with me-
for The Sporting Courier, with my final
i'll, had created quite a sensation.
Jimmy Borners of The Starter was
very fOrciblc i'll his language and said
some nasty things about my inability to
provide the racing world with informa-
tiOn that was of any value.
In my anxiety l endeavored again to
find Dixcy, for l felt that he must know
something that was not common knowl-
edge.
Though / looked everywhere for him,
1 could not see him. He was evidently
keeping himself out of the way.
Then the horrible thought rushed
through my mind that the telegram was
hoax, and | felt a cold perspiration
break out all over me. AS matter of
fact | did not care Il brass farthing
which horse won, for l make rule
never to bet, but l knew that my repu-
tation as /. tipster was at stake.
1t was i'll no particularly happy frame
of mind that l made my way to the
press box.
Ny entrance gave the cue for burst
Of hilarity, and my reception was ex-
ceedingly warm. They chaffed me un-
mcrcifnlly about my unfortunate tip,
but | took it all in good part, while in
wardly vowing that l would fire off
some Ct my suppressed anger upon
DiXey if his precocious outsider finished
where everybody expected him to finish
last.
There is 10 need for me to enter into
any lengthy description of the event,
but it is just necessary to mention one
or two facts about the most sensational
Derby on record, and one that will
never be forgotten by those who had
the good fortune to witness it.
ncrvously looked around for Don
Pero Yes, he was there all right, but
what an i'll favored looking animal COM
pared with the others! His jockey, too
was merely IA stable lad, but l thought
that I detected CLEAN of confidence in
his eye and a look of fixed determina-
ton upon his boyish face
"Now they're off, " is the cry. No, it
is q false start. The favOrite has broken