Evening star., 1900-10-01
DAY OF THE THREE PETERS.
Western Mans story of How He Won
S437.5O on a Horse Race.

Western Mans StOry Oh no" HS ssoAA
S437.5O Horse Race.
From the New York SUM-
This is the story a western man told to a
party Of racing men at Saratoga. he proven
it, too, in part. at least, by referring TO
turf guide and church almanac:
..It was on June %, 1895, that l got the
biggest returns on a small investment of
money that it was ever my good luck to get
before or since" he said Il was in Chi
cago. The town was wide open. Some OF
the pool rooms had 10-cent combination
pools You could pick out three horses on
the blackboard to win for a dime and get
little ticket with a number on for your
combination The house took out 10 per
cent commission and the remainder OF the
entire pool was divided among the holders
of tickets on the winning combination
..Well. that 29th day of June had just
1O-cent piece in my pocket when ielt the
house in the morning, ana nugseo ~ alI
the morning closer than a thistle Waitins
for the combination pools to open up 1or
business. My landlady, who was very
good Catholic had just returned from early
mass as finished my morning conee, ana
she told me that on the churcn calendar II
was ST. Peters day. In glancing over the
morning paper / ran across an item also
mentioning st. Peters day, and later IN the
morning a crowd Of people coming out from
a church
called my attention to the festival About
2 clock I strolled into Riley's big pool
room, on the corner Of Clark street and the
alley and began to study the horses on the
combination board. Among the entries IN
three of the Ave eastern races which were
chalked up for the days game were three
names that instantly commanded my atten-
ton. These names were 81. feter; refer
T. and Blue Peter. These horses had no
earthly license to win any one OF the three
races, but strive as l did to put them out
of my calculations / could not help linking
them with the fact of it's being st. Peter
day. and feeling that 1t was going to be
their day. too. If l had been the owner OF
a SO note / would as soon have burned II
as placed 1t on any one OF their chances,
but with only 10 cents there seemed to be
everything to gain and next to nothing to
lose So I go, ticket on the three.
Then the telegraph instrument began TO
click. and they were on. After ter the hrst ST
course he did, felt an amazing amount of
confidence. When the board marker had
footed up the total of all the tickets and de-
marked up on the blackboard the total sum
in the days pool when amounted exactly
to s437. so. Now, 1 held the only ticket on
the three Peters, and was OF course entitled
to the entire roll If only the two other
namesakes Of the good saint should do as
we'll the first.
Il was quite calm when in the course of
half an hour the operator again announced
quite a matter of course that Peter l..
should lead his field home, as he did, win
ming very easily and never for a single mo-
ment giving me any anxiety as to how he
would celebrate the anniversary. After that
l wouldn't have sold my ticket for a dollar
less than the sum 1t called for, with Blue
Peter the Tankest kind of an outsider, yet
to be heard from.
when the odds were posted for the race
in which the last of the Peters was to do
his act there was a prohbitive favorite
against him at something like IL on, which
made Blue Peters chances look very much
like 80 cents, and I will confess to just
momentary weakening, during which l
might have been open to negotiations. There
were all sorts Of odds offered against Blue
Peters chances in the various pool rooms,
but none of them held a candle to the odds
that had on him with my ticket. A hum
dred to one is pretty good odds, and every
body who follows the horses remembers
when Covington Kentucky won his race at
New Orleans a year ago last winter with
20 to 1 posted against his chances: but
those figures seem small compared to the
odds / had against Blue Peter, with over
$437 to win against 10 cents. You may
imagine that when the instrument began to
click and the operator started in to give
description of that race felt much more
vivid interest in the proceedings than If
had bet $4,000 on an even-money favorite
who couldn't possibly lose unless he drop
ped dead. Did Blue Peter win? Yes, and
when the official all right came in over the
wire few minutes afterward there was
only one man in line in front of the combi-
nation cashiers desk and he walked away
with just $437. so. / was the man.
1t is not to be wondered at that the group
of horsemen doubted this story. Then the
narrator produced turf guide and the al
manac. OF the winnings of the pool and
the amount of money in it there was no
proof except the horsemans word, of
course.
It's the most remarkable performance on
record" said one of the party mot even
excepting that mile of Voters
1T is of the inexplicable mysteries of
the turf" replied the man who had told
the story.