Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-14
SLICK PROPOSITION

OF the racing season by making wagers on
what seemed to the victims to be an fm-
possible proposition.
He Ii stopping at hotel ON lower Penn
sylvania avenue, and ii was in the lobby of
that hosiery that he first sprung his unique
little game a couple of days after the BEN
ming meeting began. a4s4.s.s.
A knot of local followers Of the pony
game, chaps who only pursue the vfcfssi-
tudes of the Benning meeting and let the
horse-racing business slide for the re-
nader OF the year, were sitting arofIud the
hotel lobby. talking about the days racing
and the prices that had been laid.
In that four-horse race today. remarked
one of the crowd. two or three of the
dead-line layers were making Dutch
book" .
s A Dutch book it should be explained.
is an uraseientific arrangement OF the prices
schaIked against the horses that would en-
able player to play every horse in the
race and win something no matter which
horse nailed tie race. Unskiiled book
makers occasionally-very occasionally-get
their prices mixed up in this way.
Thereupon, the whole crowd fell to men
tiening examples of Dutch books that they
had seen since they first became interested
in the pony game All of them had their
little say, when the shrewd-eyed. weazened-
faced chap, who was unknown to all Of
butting in, however, when the subject under
discussion Is horse racing. That's game
in which all men who follow Ii are more or
less chummy and confidential on first ac-
Quaintance, and any man is privileged to
nudge into an ali-around horse CONVERSE
zione without being considered Intrusive
Talk about your Dutch books said the
understood man. quietly, II once saw a
two-horse race where the second choice was
held at even money for the place
They all looked scrutfniZfngiy at the I'M
dersiZed man, who seemed to be perfectly
serious, although he had just stated what
was most palpably an impossibility, not
to say an imbeciiity.
"TTo-horse race. and one of 'em even
money to run second?" finally blurted out
one of the knot of chatters. Hey. pal,
who dye think you're talking with-bunch
O. lumberjacks just paid OFF,
Um-thats a-going some-even money a
place on a mutt in two-horse race" said
another one of the crowd. Only it's too
| eat fried oysters and hot miace pie just
before going to bed. Couldn't you come at
US little lighter than that, bo." good
humoredly addressing the stranger who had
mentioned the foolish proposition.
Well, I've got it right all right" logged
ly replied that individual. Was there my
self and saw the price. Played the price,
in fact. Got even money placer ganst
horse in a two horse race"
Probably happened at one OF those
county fair tracks, where the bookes. hired
men from the surrounding farm country
are soused up on hard cider all the time
during the festivities, chr observed one
Of the group who hadn't taken part in the
talk up to that point.
Nope" quietly replied the stranger to
the party. Happened at Saratoga, and
the bookmakers who laid the price were
the leading layers In the United States
lot of 'em are laying prices out at the
Benning track this meeting"
''Oh, come off, matey," put, In zone of
the crowd, with some acerbty of tone at
this point. Don't try to unreel such gufe
as that here. It's foolish. Dye think we're
bunch o. marks?"
"All the same, it's a fact what I'm tell
Ing you" replied the sharp-eyed chap. dog
gedly. He said nothing about making
bet on the subject, knowing full we'll that
one or other of the crowd would do that
for him in fair time. And one Of them
did right away ass.a-.-.
"Chum,' said this one, ''you don't look
like a man that walks around In a trance.
but I'm there with a ten-case note that
says you were doped the day you saw any
such thing as that happen-even money
place against one of the horses in two
horse race Here's ten bucks that says
you never saw anything like that and that
you can't prove that you ever saw anything
like it." ., -.. --...
The understood stranger promptly went
into his dungarees and produced a $40 note.
You're on" he said. and the two $40 bills
were deposited with the young man behind
the hotel cigar counter.
IT'S like stealing it, and I hate to take
the money" observed the man who offered
to bet the SO with the stranger, but I
just naturally have to call folks that swing
along my way with those kind of cock
and-bull Stories"
Then the group gathered around the I'M
dersized stranger to listen to his say
''The race that I'm talking about" said
the stranger. happened at Saratoga in
1900. 1t was a steep1echase, in which
1od TO CT, hat NIL
of them were scratched out before post
time except two. One of these two left in
the race was a crack timber-topper, and
he figured to win by about a mile. The
bookmakers put up an odds-on price against
that one, that even the heaviest plungers
couldn't as much as sniff at. Then they
laid write-your-own-ti ticket prices against
the other one, horse that had never been
over the sticke before-some of 'em even
had him chalked up as high as 200 to 1.
And the great majority of the bookmakers
laid even money place against that one.
The n-rnoney-a-place price against him
appears in the regular chart of that race,
and it was the betting rings official fig
ure ,
This explanation, however, didn't entirely
clear the matter. although some of those In
the group, when they heard that the race
was a Steeplechase, formed a pretty good
guess as to the cause of the secOnd-place
price against the outsider. =a~a
well, what did they lay that even money
How could they do that. In two-horse
racer
They laid the price against the horses
standing up through the race and finishing
within the time limit" replied the sharp
eyed stranger. Their railbird employees
knew that the horse couldn't jump well
enough to keep himself warm, and they
took the chance and laid the price because
they didn't believe that the horse, whose
name was Islingtem, would ever get over
the hedges and finish within the prescribed
time limit Thousands of folks at the
track fell Tor the price, at that"
"Well?" inquired one of the bunch
"IslingteIn refused the first jump re-
piled the stranger, but was finally yanked
over it after the other horse had gone about
half mile. He fell down at the second
jump, not being able to jump at all. and
that ended his contention. His rider didn't
try to get Islingtem over another Jump
and the other horse, of course, finished all
alone. The owner of Islngtem vas fined
500 by the stewards for sending the horse
to the post when he'd been practically un-
schooled over the Jumps
The man who had made the bet still in
sisted upon being shown and then the
sharp-eyed stranger went up to his hotel
room, dug out an old chart-book containing
the chart of the race, brought II down
stairs, and showed the chart toethe bunch
The chart showed that even money had
been laid against Islingtem for the Mace
In the two-horse race The sharn-eva6
stranger had clearly won the bet ana he
young man behind the hotel cigar counter
handed him the two $40 notes