The sun., 1906-01-14
LUCK IN THE SELLING RACES
A TRAMP WITH A BUNDLE AND A
NINE TIMES WINNER.

The suboonscious jag VINO Bought the
Horse That Wen Him - 900 and Picked
Up o. 800 More BY lt-.GeSrge Webb
Thrown Down by suppesed Friend.
.whle In New Orleans couple Of weeks
ago i saw an example OF how easy II is for
an owner or trainer to get himself into
mean mess without the slightest idea OF
wrongdoing," said turfman just back
from the winter tracks.
George Webb, who has Collector Jessup
and some other good ones at the Fair
Grounds track was the man who found him
self in the scrape. All the followers Of the
game up this way know Webb. Although
still comparatively young man he has
bean racing for more than a quarter Of
century. and there Is no angle OF tho game
that he isn't familiar with.
webb put Collector Jessup in race
at mile on the day the thing hap
pened. Collector Jessup was pretty heavily
weighted, and he isn't miller, anyhow,
preferring distances up to six or seven
furongs. All the same, he was only beaten
face on the tape, with the unusual odds
Of 10, 4 and against him. His race sur
prised Webb, who had advised his friends
not to play the horse, saying that, while he
thought the Bel Demonio colt might last
the journey, there wasn't anything cinohy
| about It.
After that race there was sprint which
the old campaigner Paul Clifford, belong
| ing to Frank Foster and trained by Johnny
| Pangle. won. 1t was selling race, and
Paul Clifford, a pretty handy kind Of
| horse for anybody racing around a muddy
winter track to own, had been entered
to be sold for only 5000.
paul Clifford looked like a good $4,000
proposition to George Webb, for the old
horse is capable Of winning almost any old
kind Of race up to three-quarters on a
deep track SO Webb decided take crack
at Paul Clifford and bid on him.
-He didn't happen to have the change
in his clothing to buy Paul Clifford and so
he said to supposed friend. Say. II get
Clifford, will you back up the buy? I'm
going to try for him, and haven't got my
roll on me-
Sure thing-go get him. said the sup
posed friend. So Webb bid 500 on Paul
Clifford, and to his amazement and de-
light got the rugged old black at that in
significant figure.
when the old horse fell to Webb at that
| ~" ~ i'tc uc uus uiouhS
and found the supposed friend who had
promised to stand for the purchase.
Well said Webb to this man, let's
| drop around to the secretary's office and
settle up for that old horse
What horseY inquired Webb's supposed
friend, with an assumption Of innocence.
why, old Paul Clifford replied Webb.
I got him for only $780, You remember
you told me few minutes ago that you'd
stand for the buy If took him.
~ don't remember anything like that"
replied the supposed friend, and Webb was
dished.
There we're only few minutes left for
him to make his appearance at the secre-
tary's office and pay the S7OO, He didn't
have the money with him, or anything like
the amount having left his bankroll in the
safe at his hotel, His supposed friend had
deliberately given him the jab, as it after
ward came out. He was sore, II appeared,
because Webb had advised him rot TO play
Collector Jessup across the board at 10,
and 2.
1.-The refusal to stand for the agreement
as 10 the purchase Of Paul Clifford was done
out of pique and with the deliberate in
tention of getting Webb into trouble with
the stewards. Webb had no time to sourry
, around and find somebody to slip him the
500. And so it came out that Paul Clifford
was led back to Pangle's barn, and Webb
was hauled up by the stewards and fined
slOo and suspended from all track privi-
leges for thirty days for violating the racing
rule that an owner or trainer must make
good his bid-up OF a horse taken out of
selling race within certain space of time.
The suspension has only now been lifted
after running for a couple Of weeks, the
stewards, as hear. having become con-
vnced that there was absolutely nothing
wrong in Webb's part Of the transaction.
.The thing reminded me Of some funny
bd-ups I've seen around New York and
other racetracks. The halter business
isn't confined any more to the owners
OF horses racing in the events in which
the placed ones are offered for sale. Out
siders found out some years ago that any
body can bid on horse put up for sale
after selling race and when this fact be-
came known racehorses occasionally fell
into queer hands
AT the Hawthorne track in Chicago
few years ago three-year-old that had
Just won his first start-having been dioky-
legged and untraina bic as a two-year-old-
was put up for sale after his win. The
race the horse had won had been one Of
the cheap kind, only tho worst skates at
the track having been carded in it. The
horse had been entered to be sold for $500.
His owner had no idea of protecting the
animal, considering himself lucky to have
got one purse out OF the poor looking one.
When the horse was put up there was
nary bid for some time and the animal
was about to be waved back to his owners
stable, when one Of the orneriest looking
buns ever clapped an eye on appeared
on the outskirts of the crowd and piped
h,lskily IN go sos on that one
"There was an all round laugh, mingled
with some c,Iss words from some OF those
present who didn't have any time for foda-
ing and were waiting to see how the other
bid-ups were going to come out. Tho man
who had made the bid Of $5O5 was such a
seedy looking proposition that II seemed
peculiar that he had been admitted at the
track gate at all. The crown Of his bent
straw hat tapped in the breeze from the
two or three strands that held it together,
and his shoes were tied with cord.