The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-10-14
RACE TRACK 10UTS AND
TRICKS OF THEIR TRADE.

.
The business of 'touting" at the race
tracks is not what it used to be. Time
was before dope sheets and books
were invented. when the race track
tout was a somewhat necessary indi-
vidual. Without the more modern
methods of keeping in touch with the
form of the horses the tout by close
Application to the work of the nags was
able to post himself, and, thus equip
ped. he could impart information that
| was IN some cases really valuable. 1t
was not SO many years ago that the
race track abounded in touts of all
| classes, including those who dressed
themselves in swell clothes, wore make
| believe diamonds and posed rs horse
| owners and trainers. The cheapest tout
| of them all was the fellow who hung
around the stables and with what few
bits of alleged information he might
pick up gained precarious livelihood.
AS most everybody cOnversant with
the methods of touts knows, the old
scheme was to pick out two or three
horses in race that had chance to
win and give one to one credulous bet.
tor and another to another and so on,
with the result that no matter who
won the race the tout had a man in tow
to whom he had given valuable infor.
nation, in return for which he usually
received piece of the money" This
method, however, soon lost favor be-
cause wise men" at the track-and ev-
erybody tries to be wise-would not
fall for it," as the sports say So tho
fonts eli l1r INT ntba hue
ness or tried some new scheme. Today
there are comparatively few ,outs at
the race track VI no employ the old hab-
it. Those who thrive are men who have
the reputation of knowing when good
things are coming off. Betting COM
missioncrs are lin the know" usually,
and the bettorS often follow their adj
vice Unfortunately These commits
sioners, by the way, might be said to
be type of modern and well developed
tout.
ShreWd commissioners make money,
and much easier, than did the touts Of
olden times. Not that il is intended to
infer that all Of the commissioners are
not square, but it is nevertheless a fact
that some of them are prone to do
things that are not exactly in strict ac-
cordance with the principles of honesty.
For instance, it is not to be denied that
some commissioners shave Odds
that is to say, if a customer gives one
of them 800 to bet on a favorite th0-.
commissioner will come back with the
information that he has secured seven
to five for the bet when in reality he
got eight to five. If the horse wins, the
bettor receives from the commissioner
$40 plus 500, minus a percentage for
the commissioners trouble, who, Incl
dentally protiting by point in the
odds, has pocketed $50 himself on the
quiet. Several chances a day to shave
odds in this way net handsome profit,
and at the same time the commissioner
takes no financial risk himself.
AS the law prohibits the issuing OF
pool tickets, as in the old days, the bet
tor who places his money with COM
missioner has no means of knowing
what odds were actually obtained and
with what book the bet was made.
The commissioners who bet money
for the women in the grand stand are.
some of them, "shavers" too. The wo-
men make such crazy bets sometimes
that the commissioners just take the
Hlouty anu against lIeUl lHSttdV
of placing the bets with the books In
nine cases out of ten the horse picked'
out loses, and the commissioner keeps
the money. but once in awhile there's
trouble When Locket won at Brigh-
ton, New York, recently, it was possible
to get sixty to one against him. A wO-
man in the grand stand who had been
an easy mark for the hold OUT fell
lows called thin faced, sharp eyed
commissioner to her and said:
Here's S.. l want you to put 1t on
Locket."
The commissioner later told the wo-
man that he had put down her bet in
the ring 900 to s. and then went away,
with the bill still in his inside pocket.
When LoCket won, the commissioner
was seen to turn deathy pale and then
rush into the betting ring as If the devil
was after him. He hunted up all the
moneyed friends he had and borrowed
enough money from them to pay the
woman her $3O5. for had he skipped the
Pinkertons would have gathered him in
or seen to ii that he could never gain
admittance to a race track again. All
of these commissioners are licensed and
numbered by the Pinkertons. and no.
body but them can make bets promis-
cu0usly for the public patrons.
Commissioners naturally post Them
selves as to the exact conditions of the
horses and try to know Just what is in
the Wind In that way they are able to-
tout their patrons as to the best bets
to make. but at the same time touting
is a secondary consideration. Any
al look the mast
performances" or thumb the dope
sheets" for the previous work of
horse and learn readily the form as
well as the possibilities of each con-
testant. AS the racing public sUsdfea =
form more assiduously thaa ever before.
as race goars know vastly more about
the game now than was their custom in
years gone by it is but natural that
the touL's services are not so much III
demand The education of the racing
public is appreciated more by the layers
in the ring than by anybody else. rms
is shown by the Chalking of odds alone.
When horse looks to have falr
chance to Win in a big field, the layers
put his price down as low as posHlpS
because they realize full well That the
talent has figured the race Just as
closely as they have and that the horse
in question is sure to be heavily backed.
It was not long ago that, though seV-
enteen horses went to the post in GER
tain race the favorite was at -FOUR 10
five. A dozen years ago, when 1t was
impossible to figure form so closely, tn"
favorite in such a race and under SUCH
circumstances would have been at least
a three to one chance, For that reason