Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-28
TALES OF THE TURF

rier who played an eight-horse combina-
tlon for one bone every day of his life for
nine years without ever getting anything
"ilch isn't surprising one little bit when
you take pencil and pad and handicap
out the chances against an Lighthouse
combination. Well, at the end of nine years
one of his Lighthouse combination tickets
went through All eight ran where they
We're played on the ticket. The combinat ion
paid 500 to Silt really figured more than
that by about 10000 per cent, but that's
all they were paying on any old kind of
combination tickets In New York then. The
letter carrier was In poolroom when his
ticket went through. 1t wound up with
Sarah Black, and Sarah, running at one OF
the Detroit tracks. won easily. Fine for
mat postman, after his years of waiting!
Everybody was stalking him to the hard
squeeze on the big mitt, and his map was
like a harvest moon.
Then the key In the poolroom began to
click real busly. and presently the operator
announced that the Sarah Black purse had
been held up, and all bets declared off be-
cause the Detroit track officials suspected
that Sarah Black was ringer. She was
ringer. as matter of fact, and Ed Farley,
her owner. was ruled off the turf for life,
and came near to going to state prison for
running that ringer. And so the Sarah
Black thing busted that round snouldered
old postman's beautiful parlay, and he
slouched out of the room, more stopped
than ever. and resumed humping his letter
delivering beat. Did he stop playing par
lays then. once and forever? Not anyi
met up with him IN New York not long
ago, and he showed me q little grimy list
Of five horses to run that day at the Bay,
and, pathetically enough he told me that
they were each and every one pipeskys and
that he had an ace on EN- all to cop, and
that II the ticket went through-well, 1t
was just stealth a hundred bucks, that's
all!
Washington has always been one Of those
parlaying towns. Hundreds. If not thou
sands. Of combination bets We're made here
every day until the recent campaign against
the landlords, and probably plenty of them
are still mad every day. But you never
hear about the great bulk of parlay bets
because the colossal majority of them lose,
as matter of course. and losing tickets
don't evoke any enthusiasm anywhere.
But you hear lot about 1t when of
the combination tickets, by some wondrous
miracle, gets by.
Hey. | hear Jimmie put one over yes
tiddy that paid 81 TO L." says the man stand
Ing on the rear platform of the car who's
pocket. "Pooty soft for Jimmie, hey?
Wonder who helped him pick EN-? He
don't know a horse from a bucket O. kalci-
mine. Flfty-four to one. hey? HIM, poor,
yes?"
And that's the way it gets all around.
They all talk about the once-in-a great
while winning parlays. and thus the mag
nations OF the horse bugs are captivated.
long boys over hey? Now. all you gotta
90 Is to take three or four or five crack
NUTS see, best in training, un'stan',
and play EN- as far back as you can. see,
and you're bound TO connect. unstan'
Sure And then they all pore over the past
performance dope and begin to scribble
their little lists and the handbook runners
become leg weary carrying the eln-buck
combination bets to their principals. Every
time one OF those parlay tickets scrambleS
/ through 10 the cashing point the handbook
/ folk see to It that everybody within the
/ precincts and confines OF the city Is put hep
/ t. II. and the parlay business just rolls
I iT"aA!sh occurrence occurs. AS a matter
/ cf fact. the handbook makers have been
. Known TO set in motion palpably phony big
, w;n stories anent combination tickets for
! The sake or corralling the coin of the parlay
! makers when the latter become a bit
drowsy in sending along their money.
! FLOATING around in turf history and gossip
. there ar" som" myriads OF hard-luCk stories
about combination tickets that went wrong
/ Eddie Burke, the hig-stOre bookmaker had
one of the disu.alest of experiences with a
h"ap-large parlay bet. He wasn't anv b'g-
store bookmaker in those days. but was
/ just doing the best he could around the
, tracks.
lie was n thousand dollars strong one
| morning. quite a number of years ago
| when lie fell to glancing over the days card
at Gravesend. Five things on the card
looked TO him as If they might all break
| legs and still roll home. Him to play every
one of them that's all-not only play EN-
all. but play 'em in combination. For he
| felt sure that if he went to the track and
bet on the five one at time his nerve
would leave him il two three of them
got by. and he would be unable to send the
whole bundle along on them parlaywise
So lie made up his mind not to 60 to the