The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1905-03-04

ger never failed to dissect the running
of a race through his field glasses. IL
made no difference whether he had q
bet down or not, for he looked into
each race With the idea OF detecting
some future winner. If he noticed
that certain horse was improving ne
kept tabs On him. He could see Wheths
er the horse had good or bad racing
luck, whether he was easily ridden Or
incompetently handled and whether ne
was trying or not. Everything was
stored away In the plunger's mind for
future reference, and when the proper
day. rolled around Phil usually had
one Of his characteristic wagers down,
no matter what the price happened to
be- But at the same time, this partic-
ular horse had to warm up well in ms
preliminary before Phil sent the
checks to the ring, ';the. longer the
price the better being his habitual
motto. Ill
when Pittsburg Phil first became ia
NOUS as a plunger he did his own
Hclocking.'' Watch in hand, he was al
ways out with the rail-birds before
sunrise watching the work OF the
horses in their morning gallops with
an eye like a hawks. Nothing escaped
him, and many an owner was sur
prised to find that the piunger knew as
much about his horses as the trainer
and the stable hands. Pittsburg Phil
seldom turned down a so-cafled poor
owner. They were his friends, and he
profited by them immensely. If an inn
pecunious horseman had a good thing
up his sleeve he Invariably hunted up
Phil and said: @.
I've got a winner in myhbarn. VIII
you put a bet down for me?" @.-.5
t'Iset me see him work first" was
Phirs never failing reply, and with his
split second timepiece in hand he in
sisted upon seeing the horse work"
before he would accept the tip. If the
horse looked fit and willing to run,
Phil would put down a generous bet
for the owner in addition to placing a
swell wager for himself. This was
one of the reasons why he beat 50
many long shots and won so much
more money than those who speculate
almost wholly on short priced favor
ties and escoId choices. ~
Night after night Phil studied the
entries for the following day. He was
an expert Handicapped and also an UNI
usually clever Judge of form at a
glance. When he had figured out the
probable winners on the past perfor-
mances of the horses and his general
idea of what ought to occur, he was
not satisfied until he had seen the
horses in the paddock before the races,
at the same time noting their jockeys
and other items Of Importance in his
estimation. In talking Of this method
of selecting winners the fomous plum
ger once said:
my eye is my inside information.
bet solely upon my judgment of a
horses ability to win a race and his
willingness to run. You may call it
what you please, but I can say that I
know when a horse is physically ready
and is disposed to run kindly. /
watch a horse in his races so closely
that can tell at a glance whether he
has put on flesh or taken it off since
his last public appearance. note ev-
erything that leads up to fitness, and
then I bet, the size of my wagers de-
pending on the degree of confidence I
possess.
81 never bet on a horse until the last
possible moment, because I want to
take into careful consideration every
element of racing luck that my horse
must contend with. Horses are like
men. Some days they do not want to
race any more than a man wants to
work. There are times when they do
not feel well and are off their feed, just
as men feel rocky and shun the bill Of