Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-02
.CR|PPLES THAT
COME BACK ONCE
Tales of the Turf-kilIings
Made in Town on
Doped Plugs.

| the Brooklyn derby as four-year-old-
| was destroyed at the Seattle race track
about two weeks ago. He broke down
| hopeiessly In a race after having won six
straight at the Seattle track, and to end
his misery his people were forced to put a
bullet In the good horses brain.
| The Huguenot had done his stint He was
twelve years old. and still racing. when he
met his sad finish. Very few thorough
breds In this or any other country stand
training that long True. The Huguenot
was what is known as hop horse dur
ing the last three or four years of his life.
| but even hop horses''-animals, that is to
say. that are secretly stimulated Just be-
fore going to the post-play out. as a rule.
| long demonstrating the age at which The
| HuGuenot broke down.
TWO famous race track men were ruled
off the turf for life at the Los Angeles
track last year on account of The Hugue-
| not. One Of these turfmen owned The
Hugnenot. and the other turfman accused
| him of using the dope on the old horse
The Huguenot's owner replied to that
charge by accusing his accuser of all sorts
OF crooked practices, and the result of this
| feud wes that the matter reached Tom Will
; liams, the militant but wholly Just autocrat
| OF racing in California, and Williams saw to
| for life
| group of occasional bettors on the po-
MES in Washington looked regretful when
| they heard Of The Huguenot's distressing
| finish.
1.-THE old horse sure didn't owe us any,
| thing they said to each other and they
felt sorry that the willing old brute hadn't
| lived long enough to enjoy long period Of
| su:e-erough retirement browsing in peace
| full pastures. The Huguenot was retired
on no less than three occasions. and after
| each retirement he was brought out,
| when tho whole turf world had all but
i'm md ~, ,Io Co.
| killing.
Just Raked'in Coin.
| THIS group of once-in-a-while Washing
| tor bettors got him. on the last occa-
! sion, when he was brought out after a
| retirement" A Washingtonian who fol-
| lows up the horses all the year around sent
| the word down here. about six weeks be-
! fore 1t happened. that the people behind
| The Huguenot were framing the old un up
| for killing. The Huguenot had then been
/ of the turf for nearly two years. and most
of the followers of the game, even many
! regulars. supposed the old horse to be glue
| long before.
The Washington chaps who got the word
| as to the projected watermelon slicing wi h
| The Huguenot as the medium never figured
| Cor moment on getting a long price
| against the old horse. They supposed that
| the tip would be everywhere, especially as
| The Huguenot had shown after two Of his
| previous "retirements" that he could/ al
| ways be depended on to win the first time
| out, and the best they figured on. when
| they were given a line on the kind of
| horses he would be entered with, was some
| thing like to against his chance.
They made up $500 pool and sent the
| money over to the Gravesend track in the
hands Of the coolest headed man of the
crowd. to be placed on The Huguenot
| straight The Huguenot opened at 20 to l
| and scared to 40 to / at post time. The
man with the $500 waited till post time, and
| got the coin down at 40 to !. The Hugueno 1t
| just jounced home without ever being let
down. -.-r
When the members Of the pool in Wash
.ngton found out. that night, that the old
the 10 to 1 chalk about him they were sure
that some mistake had been made. They
were certain that the price should have
read to !, and they considered even that
figure a big one In view of the circum-
stances of the race. The man who had
got the money down at the track took the
midnight train home. however, and he dug
his mates out of bed and handed them
So that these chaps had some occasion
to look bit blue when they read Of The
Huguenots tragic wind-up.
Cowan Picked Up $4,000.
On that same day-when The Huguenot
romped home, after his long retirement"
with the 40 to l chalk about him-Bill
Cowan, the New York plunging bookmaker.
won $4,000 on the old horse. Cowan. who
is now a millionaire. was always a "hunch
player" pure and simple. although he
knows the form OF the horses as few men
| do. One Of his bugs" has always been
to play patched-up cripples brought back
to the races, and a large part Of his sizeable
bundle. oddly enough came to him through
his indulgence In this practice. In fact, his
big start as one of the solid plungers and
| bookmakers of the game was gained when
he had the "hunch'' that the famous Grip
pie. DR.. Rice, was going to win the Sub
urban handicap back in the early nineties.
He took the winter book price against DR..
Rice for largs gobs, getting as high as 100
to l. Dr. Rice was 3-to-1 shot when he
went to the post. and he won the race lit
orally on three legs his worst prop-and all
of his legs were bad-having gone back on
| him before the race was three-quarters
finished.
SO, when The Huguenot's name showed
up among the entries on that day at
Gravesend a couple Of years ago Cowan,
following his peculiar cripple-playing
| dope" went to" the old horse for a pat
| 81. 900, getting the top price-and the loud
and merry laugh-from the bookmakers. He
knew that The Huguenot had four knees
the size of connecting sections of Old-fash-
toned stovepipe and that the old horse had
been repeatedly fired and blistered. and
nerved at least once. All of this. taken
in connection, Of course. with a few little
whispers that came to him privately. per-
fectlY agreed with Cowan's cripple system.
and when he cleaned up his $4,000 the
bookmakers who had given him the melli-
fiuous gurgle-George Wheelock was one OF
them, caught to the tune Of $20.000-were
the sorest looking lot Of price-makers that
ever hudded on ring high stools.
Among regular followers of the thorough
BREEDS there are, in fact. plenty Of perfect
~ level-headed bsttors who make 1t an in
variable rule 70 play patched-up cripples
when such horses make their temperance
after long absences from the turf. The
crippled horse. however, must. to gain the
support OF these peculiar bettors. be a natu-
rally good horse, barring his bad legs. They
don't "go to" any bad horses which are
also AFFLICTED with bad legs.
DR.. Sheppard. named after the famous
thoroughbred veterinarian. was a great
sprinter that had four viciously bad legs
from his two-year-od career. He raced
around st. Louis most Of his life, and he
was at u. covering spr.ntlng distances
mostly, till his ninth year. when he broke
down helplessly. DR.. Sheppard had the
speed Of the wind on any kind of a track,
particularly sloppy track. but his bad
legs were always tcthering him, and he
frequently broke down and haa to be turned
out for long periods. Several times he re-
appeared on q st. Louis track late In the
autumn. after refinement dating back to
the middle Of the previous season-more
than year-and on every one of'these