Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-14

nation. nave Deen one OF those VINO nave
adhered to the belief that what he learned
in those days stayed with him. for In this
game 1t Is what we learn in the initial
stages OF our turf careers that seems to
make or unmake us in the end.
This Is particularly true since Smiths
mother Used to reprove him for always
studying horse performances and books
and though he left her at his death several
George wasted his time Perhaps he did,
but here is what he had to say about work
outs and inside information:
Workouts as rule serve only to mys-
tify the very people who witness them. !
pay absolutely no attention to workouts
and morning gallops. and l have not al
lowed anybody to give me a workout this
season. for L have absolutely no use for
them. l have seen horses work in great
form. and then run a bad race. horse
may show speed in the first part of his
trial and then stop to nothing In the last
sixteenth. but this is no evidence that he
will do the same thing in race
How Some Men Succeed.
And so. while 1t is undoubtedly true
that the most successful plunger on the
American turf understood the game scien-
tifically and possessed the exceptional and
remarkable faculty of successfully apply
ing his knowledge. 1t is very far from
easy. as thousands of men have learned
to their sorrow. Many men are good ham
but very poor bettors and players, and IL
is the rare exception to find man who
can combine these two demonstration you
40, you uncover the man who beats the
game. and there are some of them. only
they are comparatively few as compared
with the hordes of turf followers who do
not.
Legitimate handicapping is a profession
or a business based upon scientific and
mathematical principles to what horses
have done In point of time and distance
and weight and what they may be ex-
pected to do upon the day that they are
handicapped for race The individual
Judgment. tips. guesswork and the think
ing this and the thinking that to what
they may do are all positively eliminated.
While it is admittedly true that no fig
ures can supply the flexible measure that
must be applied to the fields of horses by
the turf mathematician. and that scientific
handcapping Is a matter of common sense
use of the items of racing. 1t Is as also
true that II a man undertakes to make
figures at all. he must stick to his figures
often against what would appear to be his
common sense for the very reason of the
fexibility of the game and its uncertain
ity.
There Is such a thing as racing luck
and it may be said to be as tangible as
any other feature upon the track. for the
disqualification of your friends horse for
interference loses him the race and gives
1t to your own horse. The scientific han
dicapper. consequently attacks the game
ci1c Instances, and this is what I think
Pittsburg Phil did from the start. and that
he had the nerve to keep II up when he
got away from the pool rooms on to the
track.
Why Some Handicappers Fail.
"But the reason why most men fail either
in handicapping or the playing of inside
Information Is because they 10 just the re-
verse-they attempt to apply specific in
stances to general principles. and down
they go In heap because OF an Illogical
action. But most of them can't see 1t and
they never do see 1t. Smith lost like the
rest of us, but he stuck to the general
principles of the game he had acquired
while cutting cork in the smoky city. over
looked the specific Instances and therefore
won out in the end.
Speed, OF course. forms the basis OF all
regular systems Of handicapping, 1t is
the one item which stands out the most
prominently In racing. though there are
dozens Of methods OF so-called handicapping
which exclude speed and use only weight.
and some only jockies. These latter
methods always struck me being like
the play OF Hamlet with Hamlet left out.
for it Is the speediest horse in most in
stances who gets under the wire first, and
races are run to develop speed in thorough
breds as well as to win purses and stakes.
Therefore. the exclusive weight handi-
cappers make you very tired with their
u
considers and applies the weights. distances
and time of past performances to the proba-
bilities of the future. and the scientific
Handicapped proceeds upon the general hon.
esty OF the turf. and allows the suckers
in the public to bite at the 'coups.' the kill
ings' and the puiled-on good things We
read about In the advertising pages of the
sporting papers. These alluring sdelighfs
OF the game possess no attractions to its
followers, who do their own handicapping.
Strictly Form Players.
These men are strictly form players,
though the definition of form is as much
abused and diversified as that of class
Some men pick up the past performance
sheets OF the sporting papers in the morn
ing, glance these over, reason out accord
ing to their own individual deductions the
horse which has shown the best FORM or
the horse which Is the class of the race
and make their plays accordingly.
These chaps are merely 'dopers and are
very Tar removed from the men who really
the game and who really UNDER
stand and play form and class Nine
tenths of all failures On the turf can be
attributed to the lack OF systematic opera
ton and 5udicious manner of betting 1t
Is q very difficult matter for the majority
OF players to confine their operations strict
ly to any definite system be it good. bad
Or Indifferent, when their own capital Is At
stake. for nearly all of US lack financial
nerve at the critical times or become over
confident when successful. and too often
allow the natural gambling instinct to as
sert itself.
IT think this Is another reason why Pitts
burg Phil won out In the end. He handled
and regulated his play and his capital In
some well organized plan known only to
him. for there was none Of the haphazard
play with this man. He alone knew what
his actual losses and actual gains were,
aud he played accordingly. 1t Is just as
easy for the man operating a few hundreds
DE- thousands Of dollars to do this. If they
are built that way. as 1t was for the Pitts
burg man to operate his hundreds of thou
sands.
"UnW . man can successfully prove to
himself that he can unite both Of these
angles Of the game, he had better stay of
L, for It ID almost certain. no matter how
great may be initial success. that the law
u averages will get him In the end and
VIII put hina' out OF the racing business for
HI time"
and out for good I believe that this knowl-
sdge or intuition OF knowing when to fay
or and when to go on 10 one OF the Sc
cr6t0 why. some men beat the horse game