Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1900-07-18
A RACETRACK DREAM
THE RESULT FOR THE mANwHo MAO
THE VIVID VISION.
As He Was n Believer I'm Betting on,
Horses on Form, He Couldn't Fig
ure Out Lonntaka rs n winner ana,
So Missed n sweet 40 To L shot

Back in 1891. when 1 was working
at my occupation as telegraph operator
for one Of the big commercial compa-
MES" said former customer OF pool
rooms, Il had an odd experience. I
was working the Buffalo end OF the
New York wire and had access to all
the inside information which the east
ern horse owners were sending to the
western plungers. That was before
the advent Of the tout, with his collect
message sure thing. and two or three
boys in the office, myself included, had
made n little money 10y playing this In
formation judiciously, and 1 at least
was in a position 10 bet considerable
money on anything that 1 thought was
real juicy.
We'll, the spring handicaps came
along. Tenny, the grand little sway
back. piloted by Pike Barnes, won the
Brooklyn handicap IN a common can
ter. The Suburban, 10 be run a month
later, looked like n gift to the little
swayback-at least. 1 thought so-and
l made up my mind TO bet the bank
roll on him. The night before the Sub
urban was to be run / had the most
realistic dream 1 have ever had. Up to
that time l had never been on any but
trOtting track and had never seen a
running race, but l dreamed 1 was on
the right hand side at the finish and its
plOwed up course, and was IN the
stand, where l saw the entire track. I
heard the cry. 'Loantaka-Loantaka
winsr and saw the crowd waving their
hands and throwing hats into the air.
n oil lofh
with sweat passed the judges stand
I'm front of bunch. and. most remark
able Of all. the name 'Loantaka' was
branded in letters Of fire In the black
coat Of the horse. while the boy on his
back was looking around, with n smile
on his face.
NV, before l 20 any further, 1
want you 10 understand that in all big
handicaps such rs this race I was n
player OF form, and form only. 1 was
wise enough to know that n common.
ordinary race might be framed up. but
n big handicap worth probably $4,000
could not be framed, and they were all
out for the coin How then could I,
being form player. play the despised
outsider LOantaka when Tenny fig
uredf 1 went 10 work the next day,
but every tick Of the telegraph instru-
ment seemed 10 say, 'Loantaka, Loan
taxa Try as I would 1 could not get
that dream out Of my mind. 1 had 10
stop work that morning because Of
nervousness.
4 went up TO the poolroom IN the
afternoon, made a few bets on the first
three races. and then came the Subur-
ban. Tenny. with Isaac Murphy UP,
was favorite at Z to 3. Tea Tray, who
had shown great speed in the Brook
Ign, but who was an ugly beast at best,
was second choice at to 1. Loantaka,
with Marty Bergen in the saddle, was
at 10 TO l. 1t was Tenny everywhere,
and everybody with whom Y. 1 talked
about the race would say: Nothing 10
II. It's n walk + = Tenny.' 1 pulled
out two $50 bills and walked up TO the
receivers window.
Zone hundred and forty TO 10, Ten
ny sang the man who takes the mon
ey. / sent another hundred over TO an
other poOlroom across the street and
operator yelled:
Here's a fash! Tenny is now even
money at the track
Il forgot my dream and bet another
$3.50 at even money. Then 1 sat down
to experience that sweet delirium
which is familiar to all poolroom and
track hends. My eyes instinctively
wandered over TO the blackboard where
the names Of the horses were posted,
and somehow the first name that
caught my eye was Loantaka- That
name seemed larger than all the rest
When / turned away, I repeated the
word TO myself. 1t had fixed itself In
my mind, and l couldn't shake it
thought I saw it written all over ]
felt strange, and yet 1 laughed. To
humor vague fancy or inner com
mand / pulled out a 81 bill-my last,
by the way-and told a friend Of mine
to put it on Loantaka- I was ashamed
to do it myself. He came back and
handed me a ticket marked Ioantaka,
so to q and he smiled a little. After a
long delay they were Off, and If I live
100 years / shall never forget the de
scription.
They're off all together. Major Do
mo at the quarter; Cassius, second;
Banquet, third. Same at the half.
Domo at the three-quarters; Demuth,
eeSOHu' OasSluS, thlrus Kenny Is DacK
In the bunch. Domo at the mile; Cas-
sius, second; Fitzjames, third; Tenny
is eighth. Now comes the stretch.
Domo in the stretch, head; Demuth,
second, a head in front of Cassius;
Loantaka is fourth, a head away on
the inside and coming fast
mo need of singing it out to me. ]
read it only too plainly off the tele-
graph instrument. Then there was a
pause. ] was dazed. heard the in
strument no longer.
'Loantaka winsP called the opera
tor. 'Tenny finished eighth
81 staggered out Of the room Alas,
poor form player! And I've never had
another such chance."-New York Sun
HUSBAND and Wife Arc One