Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-07
0STDPPORTUNITY

every time I read in the sporting col
umns. as have read a good deal frequent
ly. the figures quoted in the future books
against the candidates entered for big horse
racing events OF the coming season, like the
Brooklyn and Suburban handicaps. feel
Ike edging OF to some quiet place and
emitting number Of deep groans of self
commiseration, and I've been feeling that
way for a numbertof years now" remarked
one of the Washington correspondents.
" never gave any countenance or enter
tainment whatever to the horse bug. but
have often been surrounded by individuals
who had the microbe in Its most virulent
form. One winter-its getting on to be
decade now since the occurrence-four fell
lows who happened to be living in New
York at the time decided that they'd had
enough of boarding houses. and took
bachelor fiat together. 1 was one Of them.
or the other three, one was newspaper
man employed by the same paper that
carried my name on its roll, another was
cartoonist who has since achieved fame.
and the fourth was an expert Photographic
retoucher who was employed by one OF the
noted portrait-makers of the big town. We
Clipped In for the furnishing Of the fiat, en-
gagged Jap cook and got along hrst-rate,
except that the horse talk of the photo
graphic retoucher made the three of us
who didn't have the racing fever very tired.
He was confirmed piker on the horses.
ana all OF his spare change except what he
put into the pot toward the running OF the
fiat went on the ponies. We tried from
the beginning to guy him out of his mania
for the gee-gees, but 1t couldn't be done
He mad race horses on his mind to such
an extent that they interfered with his
business and kept him poor all the time Into
the bargain. And, while he was an exceed
insly lnteii1gent and companionable chap,
he got so wild on the subject of the horses
that ne couldn't talk about anything else.
He began to entertain the belief that some
day or other he would make a tremendous
strike on the horses and find himself sud
denly rich, and he fell into the habit Of
telling us what he intended to do with the
money after he had pulled off his great
coup on the race track. All during that
winter when we were holding down the
bachelor nat he was sending his velvet earn
lngs out to turf commissioner to be placed
on norses running at the California tracks
and all of our eloQuence was wasted when
we tried to point out to him what an idiot
he was making Of himself.
That's all right, he'd say fanatically;
IN MT right one of these days. and then
you IeAoWsu be sorry that you didn't string
along with me on the game
well along toward the wind-up of the
winter this chap came bursting into the
nat one morning at 2 or o'clock, after the
other three of us had turned in, and he
woke US up to show us a letter which he
Loo 1CSClNcu On the Gay before from g.
friend of his living somewhere in the south
Ihe man who wrote the letter said that he
mad lately run across Fred. Foster. the
owner OF the horse DR.. Rice. and stated
that Foster was convinced that DR.. Rice
mad good chance to win the Brooklyn
handicap.
Now. the Brooklyn handicap was due to
De run some time early In June. and 1t was
knew, as everybody who paid any attention
whatever to even the most famous of the
horses then racing on the American turf
that that same Dr.. Rice was regarded as
hopeless cripple, after breaking down the
previous fan. and that he had about as
much chance Of winning even a selling race
as fat man. So you can imagine what
kind OF reception we gave that fellow
M Wnen ne broke into the fat on that cold
FEBRUARY morning and woke the three. OF
US up Tor the purpose of showing us meas
ley letter predicting the success of a Grip
pied horse that was to run in q race-may-
ne-anout SIX months later on. We threw
everything that came handy at him, and
then locked him into his own room.
He was still full Of the subject eff DR..
Rice's chances for the Brooklyn handicap
had to squelch him again when he started
to talk about the far-off race.
Well, he managed to say, DR.. Rice is
now 60 to 7 in the future books. and If
good Fred. Foster Is at patching up cripples
you'll commence right now to invest your
chicken feed on the old skate to win the
a sure thing
"And he kept 1t up and harped on 1t for
days and weeks afterward, until we hated
| to see him around. Meanwhile, he was in
vesting every dollar that he could scrape
remained at GO to 1, the makers Of the
books having the idea that there was only
about one chance in a hundred that so
confirmed cripple as DR.. Rice would ever
10 nnC In, he
This Photographic retoucher had inner.
TIED nice little home somewhere over in
New Jersey, and one day he crossed over
| to the town where the little home was sit
uated and plastered $500 mortgage on it.
He divided the $500 up into five parts and
| sent the money around to five different
! future bookmakers who were posting the
| odds on the brooklyn handicap, taking the
DR.. Rice end OF 1t. When he came home
to the fiat and announced to US what he
| had done we began to seriously believe
that he was crazy. and we weren't back
| ward In telling him so.
That's all right-maybe I am bughouse
but when you fellows see me backing a
| dray up to the Gravesend race track gate
| in June next to pull my $4,000 back to
| New York you'll be kicking yourselves for
not taking my tip and standing to win a
| bundle on the old nag-he's going to lust
| walk in, that's all-Pm getting reports
! about him every week or so, and 1 hear
send him to the post.
Besides the $500 mortgage money that
| he had placed in the future books on DR..
| Rice, the other change that he had scat
| tered around on the same investment made
| him stand to win $780, 900 on the event In
| case his old plug won the race, and how
| we did laugh, the three of us, when he'd
| lapse into a day dream and begin to muse
| over the swell Photographic plant that he
| intended to start on 9th avenue when that
$35, 900 fell into his lap!
We'll. when the day for the race came
around, the Photographic retoucher begged
so hard for the three Of us to accompany
him down to the Gravesend track that we
yielded more, probably, for the fun Of Josh
ing him about his $35,0OO-to-get than be-
cause we were interested in the outcome of
the race from sporting point of view.
We weren't quite so merry, however. when
we found that DR.. Rice was at only to l
instead Of 60 to 1 in the betting on the
afternoon of the race.
well, that Photographic retoucher has
had his swell establishment in operation on
9Th avenue for a good many years now,
and he's more than doubled his $780, 600 win
ming on old DR.. Rice, who finished in front
OF the Brooklyn handicap procession on
three legs, literally. after Clifford the
favorite. had been left at the post. That's