The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1899-06-08
THE PLUNGERS DOOM.
Rise and Fall OF tho Most Famo us
Character on the Turf

Character on the Turf,
The fortune Of pIunger who makes
is business 90 play the races and who
fakes pleasure iu startling the sport
ing world by his unique betting meth
DDS Is fuuv as uncertain as the summer
wind To-day he has wealth a. his COM
mand. tomorrow dire poverty stares
him in the face To-day he is admired
and c0lrted by the scores OF followers
who hope 20 participate in his good for-
TONE. tomorrow he is deserted and cast
aside Ike a race h0rse that has had IFS
day.
The history Of the turf is filed by exc
amrlss that Illustrate the truth 0t This
assertion There have been Walton days
and Greruau DAYS but they have pass 0
ard now poor Mike Dwyer has disap-
pearod from me track. another instance
Go prove the folly OF attempting to night
the boobies When the crash came and
lt vas announced that Dwyer had gone
the way of fhe many who had tempted
fortune FEB this hard game the one-t.m'
pimscr said:
From 1888 own bitter experience after
more shan twenty years OF racing ] say
That it is beyond human power 600 beat
the ring Betting is after all question
rrrfo-fi0u. on % moderate estimate ]
should say that there are thirty-iwo
chances against the hacker ian every race
shat is ruu. DO is NOT 20 be supposed
that T ana advising young men 10 stay
away from the races or not 20 bet ] am
40 10 mood for giving advice and j don
suppose that anybody would take Do d. 4
ana. If there are fools, young or ODD
who believe that they have a divine
mission 10 break the ring let them go
ahead and take their chances as ] nave
done"
Do was less than n decade ago that
Dwycr was regarded as one OK me mile
i0naires ~ the turf Wherever bon tlis
broad land there WAS horseman OF rune
ming or tr0tting proclviues the name oI
Dwyor wac known and respected. mere
was bur one Mike Dwyer the "silent
Magician" and his name was one 10 con-
iure with fn tho betting ring bis ioot-
steps were followed by eager crowds TOT
nll We're anxious TO follow him ODD ms
selection of the probable winner Snl-
denly the star of hts fortune Cell ana WIN
the fow dollars that were left Doe won't
t1 Florida 10 spend the remainder or Dos
days in cntyating oranges aud keeping
hotel For a. time things went come
paratlvely smoothly but LAST winter ina
fr0sts touched his trees. How much he
lost during the cold weather no one
knows hut if am the stories that have
been published about him are true he
has not enough az his fortune leit 20
bother him much with the counting.
Mike Dwyer and his brother Phil were
butchers I'm Brooklyn once They made
money at the business and as they loved
horses they had some good flesh in their
stables. Mike always had speculative
turn and ne continued his efforts t0 im-
prove the character of their animals
until m last they found Rhadamanthus.
The story of how the Dwyer brothers
came 10 buy Rhadamanthus has never
been told but buy him they did, way
back in 1876 and from that day until
1872 when Mike parted company with
Phil because he would insist on being
q plunger. while Phil was willing 90 let
his horses run for stakes and let other
people DO the betting. the brothers were
The Dominating figures Of track history
season after season. 40 single partner
ship has ever been more successful not
wIthstauding the fact that the brothers
were SO dissimiar in their makeup.
Rhadamanthus was the lucky piece for
them and the first time that tho stranger
with blue sash passed under the wire an
/ easy winner Of a great race the two
|
them feel happy for many day.
Their success encouraged them and 9TH
or good horses were found VITA such
animals 10 run and such a plunger a.
Mike Dwyer 20 back them the making Of
money was p necessity Of fact not the
vagarics of fortune. and within three
years from the time when old Rhad enc
tered their stable they were regarded as
millionsires.
To enumerato the horses that tho
Dryers have owned reads like a list Of
the years champions during the twenty
seasons that the brothers We're together.
There was Rhadamanthus and Bramhle
Luke Blackburn. Hindoo. Onondaga.
Dcwdrop. Miss Woodford. fremont Han
over. Inspector b.. LOngstreet George
Kinney Kinston. Raceland. and an the
rest Of that brilliant array OF stars that
are so familiar 20 racegoers and that
won races until the expression "Dwyer
luck" became one OF the sayings OF the
| turf.
Another ten-strike that the brothers
made was when they took Jimmy Me-
Laughlin as their star rider. He was a
success from the start and season after
season he hestr0de the Dwyer mounts
and rode them 10 victory. Sometime
The victory VAS easy and sometimes the
struggle was q desperate one but 1t was
all the same 20 Mclaughlin. He rode 10
win and win ne did until at last some
OF the good men were ready 10 back his
mounts without taking the trouble to in
quire the name OF the horse on which
he SAT- Those were the good old days
Of tho turf, the days when a hundred
hock-Iakcrs were lined up in the ring
and when the crowd that gathered be-
fore them held millions OF dollars that
II was ready TO risk upon the horses.
There nave besn many plungers in
America 1t would not Yeddira an old