The St. Louis Republic., 1900-09-09
ODD INCIDENTS
OF RACE TRACKS,
CURIOUS AND INTERESTING OCCUR
RENCEs WHICH MAKE THE
SPORT OF KINGS FASCINATING.

Every year brings to light some curious In
cident connected with horse racing. and SO
many OF these Incidents are worthy of men
tion that 1t would De impossible to chronicle
all of them. This year has had its fair
share of such happenings. and while the
record for even the present season would
be too lengthy. few instances may be
chosen as typical
The most singular incident which occurred
In betting way was at Saratoga on Au-
gust %. The Kensington Hotel Hurdle
Handicap was postponed on account of the
miry condition of the track, and 4 hurdle
race OF open conditions substituted. The
bad track scared out entries. however, and
only two horses were sent TO the post In the
makeshift event. these being C. W. Fennis-
tons Arquebus and F. ID. Boards IngInar.
In spite of the fact that there were but
these two horses in the race, the book
makers actually offered odds Of TO that
Ingomar would not run second. giving prac-
tically any odds desired that he would not
win. The horse was such n sour-tempered
brute that they depended on his refusing the
Jumps to safeguard their money. and the
result proved the correctness of their judg
ment. Ingomar was f1ogGed over couple
of jumps and then refused to proceed fur
ther. and. after worrying with him until the
expiration of the time limit his jockey gave
up the job in disgust This is probably the
only case on record where there was place
betting on two-horse race. 1t is not clear
that the jockey on Ingomar was not in on
a neat LOB.
A singular incident happened at Washing
ton Park. Chicago. on Derby Day of this
year. The alarm bell connecting the
judges stand with the betting ring was out
of order, and in consequence the book
makers had no means OF knowing when a
race had been started. There was such
jam In the ring before the Derby that they
did not notice the horses as they went to
the post. and the noise in the ring prevented
them from hearing the cheers Of the crowd
when Sidney Lucas won.
The bookmaRers furthest away from the
track continued 10, take In money on the
race: therefoTe. after the contest was =, aet. .
betting ring that those around them were
as much in ignorance OF the result as they
themselves were. the betting followed
natural channels, except for a short rush at
the end, when a few Discerning persons re-
allied what was going on and commenced
to place bets on Lucas. The bookmakers
grasped the situation In a few minutes. and
in consequence did not loose much, bun the
episode wac probably the only one Of the
kind on record.
Another case. involving the advance flag
Ing. The advance man dropped his flag TO
a breakaway and sent half the field on
their journey, the racing being fought out
by this portion. while the others remained
quietly al the post. resting period OF
twenty minutes was allowed by the judges.
but upon the return to the post the greater
part of the field again ran away to a false
start. The horses were sent back to the
post Immediately and the race was run
over, Lieber Karl, the favorite. winning In
a drive Two false starts. involving a con-
siderable portion of the field. as these did,
make the Incident rather unusual
A rather remarkable case OF losing and
gaining weight in connection with a horse
race occurred at this same Saratoga meet
ing. Three entries were scheduled for the
Gentlemen's Cup. namely. w. c. Hayes,
Harry Smith of Boston and Edward Smith
of Ballston, Md. This latter gentleman
weighed $50 pounds, while the scale of the
race called for $50. q weight at which his
opponents had great advantage.
He did not despair, however. but by Wig
orous training and taking a series of Turk
ish baths on the night preceding the race
he actually managed to reduce his weight
twelve pounds in twenty-four hours. Riding
at 1853 pounds. he won the race on Favon-