Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-04-05
THE BITERS BITTEN

did you ever happen to see walkover
that wasn't one?p inquired a western man
returning with his party from the Benning
races the other afternoon.
All of them had to give 1t up. naturally.
What's the answer?' they said.
1.-THE answer is just as state tia walk
over that wasn't a walkover,'' said the
western man. II saw affair like that
few years ago in Montana. They have
pretty good running races during the sum-
mer in Montana, although not much is
heard Of the Montana races back in this
part of the country, on account of the
greater interest attaching to the eastern
races. They've a regular running circuit
out there. with Butte as a sort of headQuar
| ters, and the class of animals that compete
out there is pretty high. They are for the
most part the horses that race on the Cali
| fornia tracks during the winter months.
Nowadays the discipline on the Montana
tracks is about on a par with the high
standard of race-track discipline in the east,
but when the game first began out there
the crookedness engaged in by all hands.
from owners to jockeys and even stable
boys, not to mention the conniying bookies,
was something fierce. In this respect the
Montana racing in it's infancy didn't differ
materially from the racing on the old out
| law tracks back this way-at Alexander Is
| land or Iron Hill, for example. Any old
thing went, owing to the complacency or
1ncompetency or worse of the stewaI S and
| judges and some of the rawest frame-ups
! that We're ever conceived under the hats of
horsemen who needed the money went
through with rush.
This walkover that wasn't a walkover
occurred during the second season of rae
| ing at Butte. Nine horse owners were in
| volved in the cute little job. None of them
| had been having any luck with his string,
and they all got together and arrived at
| the conclusion that they'd go after the
money with a gnaned club, they required 1t
| so badly in their embarrassed business. So
| they decided to do it in this wise: Each of
| the nine was to enter q horse to run in
| six-furlong sprint. and on the day of the
race, and about a couple of hours before
| the arrival of the hour for the event, eight
| Of them were to scratch their horses. leav-
| ing just one Of them in, and this one OF
| course to have a walkover-just a solitary
| canter around the track, while the gang in
| the stand whistled an appropriate quick
| STEP to capture the big end of the purse.
What good was this going to do the
other owners mixed up In the little play?
Oh. nothing, except that they were to send
| their commissioners to pool rooms all over
| the state to put down gebs of money on
| the horse that was to have the walkover.
All of the Montana pool rooms quoted
| morning odds, and all that the commission
ers had to do was to plaster their princi-
| pals bank rolls around at the morning
| horse-betting figures on the animal that
| was to swing around the course all alone,
| and then to go around and collect armfuls
| VI iuoHcS d1tSi Tic GUILT OI the
| walkover.
! We'll, the job was c1every planned. and
| 1t went along on creased skids. On the day
| before the race the nine owners had con-
ference for the purpose of picking out the
horse that was to have the walkover Some
| of them were for picking out the best ami
| NAL of the lot, the one that would be a nat
| ural first choice in the betting so that they
could claim. in scratching out the other
| horses, that they were afraid of the favor
lite, and. knowing that their NUTS had no
horses out. The majority. however.
| wouldn't listen to this plan. They wanted
| big money from the pool room propretors
and they knew that they couldn't get big
| to nave the walkover So they finally
picked out horse that figured to be Is
| or ~ to shot in the betting to execute the
lone gallop around the course. The COM
| horse that was to have the walkover. and
| on the night before the race they all
| jumped out In different directions through
| out Montana, to get their principals money
| down in the pool rooms of the different
| towns.
ION the morning OF the day Of the ace
they all wired In to the nine owners that
| they'd succeeded in getting the money down
| at odds averaging Is to l against and by
| the time all of these returns were in the
| pool rooms Of Montana stood to lose some
| ranged walkoyer. AS soon as the owners
| got word from their commissioners that the
money was down they began to scratch out
/ one by one the last Of the eight horses
| only being scratched about an hour before
| the race was to come off.
| Several OF the owners were called into
| the stewards room to explain what their
| idea was in scratching out their skates and
| permitting a common platter. that was
bound to be rank outsider in the betting
to elope with the big end of the purse
| simply by breezing around the course alone
| They all told the stewards that their horses
| q hot
| morning, owing to new lot of inferior
| feed that had arrived at the barns the day
| before 1t was a pretty fishy explanation,
| that. but, as say, pretty near any old
| thing went on the Montana tracks at that
| time, and the owners got away with their
little yarn all right
| We'll the walkover was the second event
| on the card. and when post time for the
| second race arrived the solitary mutt came
| a-dancing out of the paddock onto the
course. and started to jog around the track
regulars in the stand
| Nv hen the horse was nearing the far
| turn on the back stretch something queer
happened. The animal was seen to come
| to a gradual stop. and just as he was due
| to make the bend he came to dead STOP
| gazed dreamily over the railing and then
| deliberately lay down In soft spot right
| in the middle Of the track. The boy on his
| back slipped off, and he started to punch
and poke the walkover horse but it was no
| use.
| The skate was just too sleepy to yield to
any sort of persuasion short of dynamite
and the hundreds Of track followers who
hustled up to the far turn to see what the
| matter was found the horse sleeping Just
| as peacefully as a grounding coiled up in
his burrow for the winter. They did every
! thing imaginable to get the mutt to stand
| up and finish his walkover Jog so as to fin
ish within the time limit. but it was abso-
lutely no go, and the time limit expired
| thus making the race no contest while
| the animal lay there on the track, a-slum-
| bering.
| IF you ever saw sheepish-looking lot
| Of horsemen. those nine owners were the in
dividuals Their hog-killing hadn't come
off. and not only that, but they had lost
all of the money that their commissioners
had bet. for morning betting in pool rooms
| is Of the so-called 'pay-or-play' sort, and
the waikover horse having failed to exc
! cute his little canter within the time limit
| the pool rooms kept all the money
| How did 1t happen? Oh, it was easy
enough. When all Of the horses were
scratched out the pool room proprietors
smelt a rodent. and they sent frantic tele-
| grams to their agent in Butte. telling him
that they stood to lose their bank rolls il
| the walkover went through, and command
| ing him to get busy, He got hiIsv enough