The Washington times., 1906-01-08
VOSBURG'S JOB
IS A HARD ONE
Must Weight Horses So the
Public Will Bet.
IN B0OKMAKERS' INTEREST
Also, Racing MagnateS Have Ideas
About What Their Stars Should
Garry.

NEW YORK. Jan. S.-From now until
February i Nosburg. who during The
rest of the year attracts only q small
measure OF public attention. is, without
serious qualifications, tie most mpor-
tant parsonage on the American turf.
Racing law makes one man the arbiter
OF equine deStinies. puts II within his
conscientious Voiition TO designate-al-
most mathematically, If he wilI-the win
neTs of the three greatest events of the
year-tne Suburban, Brooklyn, and
brighton hanQiCaps. OF course. that is
not his object, but quite the reverse is
his aim in TINS WelghJ-a1jUstin problem.
IL is rather so To mix .p his avoirdu-
lois sisns -tnat il shall To-. peS md human
analysis ana sNnJnesls L. DtSCiOSe with
a Uesree 81 certainty tie .orse WniCn
snaI Hnlsh first IA these events
II the pubic should WITH general I'M
anlmIty select ana plunge upon the same
amman, anu mat the IlgnL one, what
oul0 become OF those great pnIaTs OF
TIE turf, the bOOkesZ Lney would be
wiped out and there soon Would be no
more turf
Ine brighton weights are due on jan
Uary -, week before the time allotted
Tor those OF the Suburban ana the
Brooklyn 10 appear, although the Brigh-
ton Is the last 10 be run
BCokies Real Thing.
Everybody has the same confidence in
NOSburg that our fOTbears had in Wash
ingtOn- They know he means well,
whether lie succeeds or fails is not OF
much consequence TO the crowd II be
Will manage 10 bring fairly close to
sether on tne finishing line representa-
yves OF top middle. and bot
Juggle his ngures so as TO induce the
public to back a goOdly number OF
horses IN each race-making eacn d
good betting race"-he will have ac-
complished ali that the real sponsors OF
the turf. the magnateS and the book
makers, expect OF him, and a good deal
more than the average official lead-pad
scientist aCcOmplishes-
The public really sympathizes with
NOsburg- Every dope Student-and
dope students are now cOeXJensive
with raceuack patrons-knows how
hard IL is 10 figure even one horse in
the money for purposes Of speculation.
Some years ago, IN ii moment % mental
tribulaton. NosburS took the public into
his confidence and told in PRINT what
sOul-rackinS job was mis-. Ine public
believed him and has continued TO feel
for him It even now imaglnes him
burning the midnight product Of the
Standard oil Company and tearing mis-
hair over fractions mathematical hero
glyphics-a starter with a hundred eN-
citable steeds instead Of fifteen AND he
human, not OmnisCient!
Subject TO Influence.
Suppose, for the purpose of emphasi-
z.ng the difficulties of his task, one
ventures to hint at the subject of in
fiuence- Do racing magnates who pay
Mr.. NOsburg. and who. being human like
him, run horses in the big handiCaps.
gamble on them and consider that one
Of the great ends of their own exist
cnce has mateTialiZed when their four
footed representatives cross the line IN
Tront-dO the turf pOtcncies ever project
their personalities on the consciousness
Of the Handicapped? Probably not direct
lyi but nobody has been able 10 fig
ure out how many ways there are OF
whipping the devil around a stump. If
the practice We're general II would be
self destructive. And here one can ap-
Pc al TO Mr. NOSburg' S own published ut
terances.
1t is not quite ten years since the
Handicapped, in d moment OF weakness,
perhaps. turned himself loose on this
subject, and the wonder was then, and Is
now Ihat MS oIncial head remained on
his shoulders. This is what he himself
wrote and printed:
Regarding the weights horses should
carry, men reason according TO their in
terests. Men who own poor horses want
high weights, men who own crack
horses want low weights. In 1892 a
gentleman who owned one OF the laTg
est stables IN training, had a very mod
crate lot, and there was scarcely day
That summer at Monmouth that he did
lttL LlAl Altra UPON Ilt NOW ur0lidOit lt
was TO begin with a high top weight il
was so necessary TO make fields and
bring them together and TO give the
poorer class OF horses "a chance
Late in the year this gentleman puT-
chased a crack thTpe-VeaT-Old. and the
next season at Monmouth il was anus
ing 10 note the change that had come
er the spirit of his philosophy. He
now hoped | would not crush the good
horses. that the top weight ought 10 be
about weight for age that the public
wanted 10 see the good horses run and
nobody cared for the screws whose
proper place was i'm selling races
often felt Ike reminding him of his sud
den change OF nature, but / enjoyed the
lesson in human nature too much TO
disturb him.
Yes, human nature. 1t exists to a
prominent degree. even among turf
magnates. Wonder what sort of verbal
discipline would have been applied to
this owner of one of the largest sta
bles in training" had the Handicapped
been Admiral Rous or Major Egerton.