Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-05-05
RACING ENTHUSIASM

1T doesn't. do to become gurgiy and all
worked up over the prowess Of q race
horse.'' remarked Washington Man who
has been keeping track of the pony game
for more years than he really cares to re-
member.
The answer is that the greatest of the
'tree-menjousiy' praised thoroughbreds are
pretty liable to fall down upon fellow and
get themselves shown up just about the
time he develops his most acute enthusiasm
for them.
Il had that fact rubbed in on me as long
ago as Salvatore time. / used to fairly
shout at my friends who wouldn't agree
with me that Salvador was the horse of the
century and all that, and I clearly indicated
my belief that those who didn't agree with
me were pinheads who didn't know the diff
ference between a race horse and a half
used bar OF kitchen soap. Then my Saliva
tor enthusiasm got q sad waliop when the
sway-backed Tenney, in a match race with
the Haggin crack, went out and showed
Salvador up. and l had to sing small and
make excuses for Salvador for long time
afterward-
Il was good deal of a nuisance. too,
with respect to the merits of Domino when
that little horse was doing his wonderful
stunts around the New York tracks in
keenes colors. Used to feel like hitting
friends Of mine who wouldn't acknowledge
that Domino could give any horse on the
globs ton of coal and a beating doing any
thing from hop, skip and jump to four
miles. I accused them of knowing just
about as much about race horses as a razor
back porker knew about the fourth dimen-
sion, and / walked Up and down the world
with Domino chip on my shoulder, waiting
for somebody to knock 1t off. / told every
body knew who followed the fortunes of
the thoroughbreds that Domino would win
the Brooklyn handicap by the distance be-
tween the Peace monument and It'll street.
and in general I just blatted around some
thing horrible about the merits of that DOM
mo animal. Then Domino went out and got
himself most ANONYMOUSLY beaten in the
Brooklyn handicap, running fourth or fifth
to bunch of nags that l had sworn Dom
mo could run fifteen rings around In race
and still beat.
"A few years ago I became pretty hot
talker around these parts for that western
horse McChesney. I'1ld 'em all that Me-
nudge on anything wearing racing plates.
and made it sound-and l really thought 1t
was on the level-as If MeChesney was
something 50 extra that he could We beaten
the mighty Ormonde, the real horse of the
century. at even weights, had they come to-
gether in Ormonde's day / was particu-
larly chesty and intolerant with regard to
the greatness of McChesney in my CONVEX
satfons with another Washington follower
Of the game who preferred the horse Her
mis- to~ McChesney. We had it hot and
HcdNy WcchS over tie respective
of McChesney and Hermis, and came so
nigh to blows over the subject that there
wasn't any fun in it. Then McChesney got
himself fairly run Into the ground, not by
q hrSt-rate aged handicap horse, mind you,
but by more-or-less inconsequential little
two-year-old named The Minute Man, be-
longing In John Madden's barn. And Nc
Chesney didn't do anything worthy a fairly
good horse, much less great one, during
the remainder OF his racing career. L had
kind of a draw-down in that argument
however, with the man who liked Eerms
SO much. because Hermis that same early
part OF the season got himself numerically
drubbed by whole lot of overnight handi-
cap horses, and so the Hermis plugger
couldn't rub it In on me very hard over the
iamentable dzzle made by McChesney.
Not profiting by any of these expert
ences however. l worked myself up last
autumn into a quite unnecessary lather
over the prowess of Dave Johnson's
Splinter, Roseben. When Roseben at
Aqueduct few weeks ago. won the Car
ter handicap, he showed me that he was
going right down the line and resume his
old-time form, and then 1 began to shout up
ana down the thoroughfares of this town
that Roseben was not only the greatest
sprinter that had ever worn q lead pad in
this country, capable of beating such q
crack sprinter as Voter at the latter's very
best, but that he would prove himself to be
distance horse of the finest grade ever,
even declared, hoarsely and raucously, that
I'd play Roseben to beat the wonderful
to mile and quarter.
THE man with whom I was particularly
argumentatiye and sassy respecting Rose
ben had the queer bug that that little Lady
Amelia fuy that ran pretty we'll last year
and started out real we'll this season could
beat Roseben at difference in her favor
Of about ten pounds in the weights I
hooted and derided him for expressing 80
im5ecile an opinion as this, and told him
that he was in fair way to have a
lunacy commission sitting on him inside of
few weeks. When Roseben was entered
for the Sterling handicap at Jamaica last
Saturday l told this man with the Lady
Amelia bug that 1t was just scandalous
joke how far Roseben would win by, and he
came back at me to the effect that Lady
Amelia, who was also entered in another
race at the same track the same day,
would win her race just back-1umping,
with her head affectionateIy resting in her
riders lap.
The mighty Roseben over whom I'd been
making a nuisance of myself for several
weeks ran mean, common, onnery fourth
or fifth In the Sterling handicap. with the
prohlbitye odds of to ) ehalked up against
him. and Lady Amelia. the one my Rose
ben-knocking friend had such huge hunch
on, got herself run into a prairie dog hole,
80 to speak. by one OF those everyday just
useful horses that prOwl around the New
York tracks. So we had what might be
called a split.
"But I'm through hope I'm through,
anyhow-setting all het up about what
these noted running NUTS can do. It's too
humillatng ana too much trouble to try to
frame up feeble and wabbly excuses for
EN- when they get beat, and they all do
get beat If they prance up to the post
oftena enough. The one thing worth while
getting gurgly about Is a cinch, and, as
say. the only living cinch in connection
with race horses is that they're all going
TO get their measure taken If they're kept
at the old merry round game long
enough"