Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-11

wfldered his Judgment his friends fell
into the habit OF going to the thing
that he picked out in that swift way,
and there are scores of these men VINO
today are fixed for life because they
did have the sense to lean on Grannans
judgment.
''Grannan's immense splurge on the
Domino-Henry of Navarro match was
characteristic of him. You'll recail
how on that occasion as a bookmaker
he laid against Domino until the cows
came home and went out again, anu
how he stood to pay out between SloV'-
600 and 100000 in case Domino ala the
trick
He simply would not have 1t that
Domino could beat Henry of Navarro.
OF all the big ring men OF that time
Grammar was practically alone In pc
lieving that Henry of Navarro couiu
put 1t on the mighty Domino. He was
utterly unreasonable about this tnlnB.
! tried to tell him how much more OF
a horse Domino had shown himself 10
be than Henry of Navarro. He Wouio
listen without a word, and when got
through he'd say every time:
"'Ail right Have 1t that way II you
want to. But watch the fall that I'm
going to take out of Domino; tnats
ALL
"'And go broke I said to him. with
like your pigheadedness to tap your
self on such fool proposition as that,
when any smudge of a dinge stapie
boy knows that Domino will walk
away and hide from Henry OF Ma
Varre.'
THAT only got a laugh out OF MN.
He wasn't accustomed to gettiiis
worked I'D over race horses, but Henry
of Navarro was the equine idol OF ms
life. Down to the finish of his turf ca
reer around New York he stuck II out
that Henry of Navarro was the great
est horse that ever stood on iron.
But Grammar sure had his hunch
clothes on when he decided to take
wallop out of Domino. While every
body else was amazed, he wasn't even
a little bit surprised when Henry or
Navarro. fighting 1t out like a cor
nered bobcat, to the wire. ran the beau
tiful Domino to dead heat. He beat
the race, of course, by the splitting or
the bets on the dead heat pay-on. IL
was on that day that / was FORCED 10
acknowledge myself that Grannan's
way was something a notch ABOVE
mere horse sense.
Riley and Phil were close frlends'
They never INDUCED in argument as to
their different methods of going at the
betting game, but they bantered eacn
other a good deal at times.
"'Go ahead, and wear yourself TO
the bone, Phil framing up that inside
dope of yours, I heard Grammar say
to Phil one day. Some of these days
I expect to see you trying to tell us
that there's a system to beat the wheel
or bank
keep on playing them like an old
woman in a sunbonnet.' Phil got back
and some day I'll see you driving a
hack outside the track grounds and
smoking a corncob pipe
"And right here is the place to say
that Pills way of doing certainly did
prove to be the right one in the long
run. They got Riley for his in time,
but they never took Phil.
Phil, just to give the thing a try
out as to whether you've got the right
end of 1t or not, Grammar said to Pitts
burg Phil on another occasion. I'm
going to copper you for a spell and see
how the thing breaks.
cooper your head off, replied Phil.
not thinking that Grammar meant his
suggestion seriously.
but Grammar did mean 1t. He cop
pered Phils bets for more than week
running. and he cleaned up nearly $780,
900 doing it. BY some miracle Grammar
just happened to light on one of the
most disastrous weeks of Phils career
as a good time to do that coppering
thing.
Phil lost twenty-six straight bets
during that period, which was the los
ing record of his life. Grammar won
on nineteen of those bets by playing the
next closest contender, in accordance
with his plan to keep on coppering Phil,
and the remaining seven races were
won by long shots that nobody could
consider
Phil put both hands up at the end
of that disastrous coppering period-he
was aware, of course, of what Grammar
was doing.
"Grannan stopped it, and 1t is a mat
ter of common knowledge among ring
men who aren't a little bit superstitious
that Phil promptly proceeded to win
again as soon as Grammar quit that
cOnDerinp business"