The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1903-08-10

II have seen systems to beat the races,
Brooklyn man said the other day.
most of which beat the man who played
them but 1t took an upstate cousin of
mine to formulate the greatest freak
system that ever heard of, and the beau
ty Of 1T is that he got some of the good
money away from the men that sit on
the high stools during the day and spend
other peoples money in the White Light
district at night. 1t Is not system.
however, that I can recommend. and l
am free to say that I have not nerve
enough to follow 1t, even tho it Gid n Axe
good on one occasion.
This cousin of mine was in town to
spend Decoration Day. He had been to
the county fair and seen horses raced
when hitched to sulkies, but never in his
life had he seen The bangtails so. And
yet he had read enough about the races
30 as to get an idea of them, and was
onto some of the technical terms or the
track. He insisted on going to the track
Saturday, much against my wishes, for l
was down there Brooklyn Handicap Day
and had let the bookmakers get the price
Of summer vacation the best of me. lie
said that he might not have a chance to
go to the races again, as he rarely came
to the city In the summer time, and be-
sides he wanted to try a little system Of
his own
''TIe could afford to lose few dollars,
30 accepted his invitation to go, and l
had the determination to let the horses run
for some one else's money. We got pro-
grams on the train, and while he would not
tell me what his system was, he said he
would not try 1t on until after the first
race. looked over the card, and it looked
like such soft spot for st. Finnan that
took a small flyer, while he stood around
and looked wise. Well, you know how the
race came out. st. Finnan followed The
Guardsman i'll and lost my money.
Then my cousin told me his system. 1t
was to take the winner Of the first race
and then play the horses with the same
initial letter. told him that q system Of
that kind would buy automobiles and
yachts for bookmakers. and they would
not want anything better than to have the
dear public play freak systems of that
kind. Did I discourage him? Well,
should think not. He said he had thought
out that system In the silent watches Of
the night and now that he had chance
to put it in operation he was not going to
be touted off. 7 told him that he had a
wife and child, and he might be taken sick,
and that he owed it to them not to throw
his money away.
well, the long and short Of it was that
I nearly lost my voice and I did lose my
temper trying to talk him out Of 1t, but 1t
was no use. He looked at the program
and there was Tip Gallant and The Rag
ged Cavalier in the second race with the
lHlLldl lcllSE L. hllGW lldl LIP Idlldul
was a good steeplechaser, so I told him
that II he was determined to play his own
way to play that one. also told him that
If there was an uncertain thing on earth
1t was jumping race. When we got In
the ring we found that Tip Gallant had
been scratched, and I again urged him to
Keep his money in his pocket He was not
open to conviction, however, he went
and gave one of the bookmakers a ten
spot on The Ragged Cavalier, getting Is
to for his money. We got a place in the
grand stand where we could watch the
race, and on the second time around and
as the horses came in the stretch, The
Ragged Cavalier was so far back that he
could hardly be seen. I was framing up
some good harsh things to call the relative
of mine, when The Ragged Cavalier came
up with rush and beat illuminate the
best part Of a length under the wire.
II could not use the harsh things that
had on tap to say, but did try to con-
vince him that it was Of those things
that happen, the same as a man has been
known to make a straight by drawing to
the middle. It would have taken better
orator than I am to have convinced him
that it was not the logical working out Of
his system. He looked at me just If he
thought I was in league with the book
makers, and might as well have talked
TO wooden man.
when he looked at the program for
the third race, the only entry with the
initial TT was Tender Crest, and that
country cousin of mine wanted to go in
the ring and place the entire $3.50 he had
won on Tender Crest to win. The only
way could talk him out of that was by
telling him that some OF the bookmakers
had wives and children, and I was sur
prised to think that had q relative in the
world SO cold-hearted that he would take
the bread out Of the mouths of women
and children. We were talking when we
were going in the ring, and when we got
there and saw so to 1 against Tender
Crest he said he thought it would be too
bad to take much money away from
the men, so he would bet just $40
straight. II ever saw anything in a race
that looked like a pipe to me it was
Nameoki In that field. I told him So
but he was a good winner and T did not
try to tout him on it very hard. I went
and CHANGED $40, thinking I could split
even on my bet on the first race. When
I was UP placing my money his heart
hardened and he forgot the hungry wo-
mon and children long enough to place $1(
more on Tender Crest, altho he did not
get but 40 to that time.
You know what happened. Tender
Crest got Off In front, and stayed there
long enough to beat out Nameoki. I die