The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-19
WOMEN WHO BET ON
THE HORSE RACES

beast: all that's necessary IS for him =
strike their fancy and it's all of. If he
Pirouettes and tries to throw the jockey
he's their meat all the time and on
amount Of persuasion can alter a deci-
sion that he is a winner. And he gen
orally is"
The old man sighed deeply and dove
into roll TO place fifty on a three-tO-
one shot.
Now here's where I win" he saids
with a look that came as near to
smile as he could muster. There's
freak in this race that couldn't run
mile to save his life The chances are
he'll drop dead at the half, so they've
put him in at 100 to / Now watch those
fool women bet on him. 1 hate to see
them throw their money away like that,
! but we who make it a business need the
money they've taken away from as dur
ing the past, so I'm not going to do any
weeping for them. Now watch them
when he comes on the track -
The stand was a waving mass OF eoloI
as the horses for that race came onto
the track and began their preliminary
stand The freak" to which the old
horseman feeIingIy referred was named
Tommy Foster" and his record was
none too fine to cause a sensation OF
pride IN the breast Of his owner. In
fact. It avs generally supposed that
that erudite person had more than made
good any p0ssible loss on his animal by
| backing the favorite- The nag went
begging but for the women. As soon as
they learned that he could not win they
thought he could, and when they found
| that the commissioners would give them
200 to l on him they took him up so
quickly that before the stsrt they had
| pushed the odds down to so to 1, and
/ the bookmakers were disinelined to give
! even that One young woman, well
| known in the highest society circles Of
| the Capital. jumped TO her feet just
| after she had placed $50 on the horse,
/ and gave a cry, There they gol"
| The cry was repeated from lip to lip
! as the beautiful animals tore down the
| track toward the quarter, and the grand
! stand rose en- masse to watch the
| progress of the race. Then were the
women seen at their best and the real
craze for horse racing shown 10 & I'm
| ish.
/ Go it. Tommy" was heard every
/ where from the undulating mass Of color.
/ Come along, old fellow Good gFa-
/ cious. see him run" Then came a
cessation of the cries as the three
| quarter post was passed and the freak
/ forged to the front. Women standing on
| the seats breathed hard. and the men
who had bet on the fayorite looked pale
green around the base Of tie ears. In
another moment it was over. and the
! cheering was deafening. for the freak
had won The old man sat down and
| bowed his gray head on his hands.
What did I tell you2'- he asked.
/ Did I say that that freak would win
/ this race? Sure I did, And didn't he
win? Sure. VIII you please 90 away,
young man? I feel as II I needed rest
/ after spending all the money I won On
him. As a bit of parting advice from
a man who has followed this business
all his life, 7 want TO say to you thar
the only way to beat the game IS TO
carefully study out the horses, pick the
one that, according to the schedule,
/ ought to win, and then put all the money
you can lay your hands on on some
yellow dog that wears pretty coIors and
takes the fancy OF the women. wo-
man is born to luck and you are always
safe when you copper your judgment in
favor Of hers"
The old man turned sadly away as the
next race was called, and the last seen
of him he was placing his last dollar on
the favorite. His nerve failed him when
he tried TO bet On luck against common
sense. His disappointment was too
much for the tender hearted reporter TO
wish 10 witness, and he turned away.