Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-31
From London Answers.

From London Answers.
mo. sir" said the head groom OF
well known racing stable to the "r'.e''
eve not much faith in tips from TIC
,osebae' l never dropped a sovereign
horse since / first saw the INSIDE
Of stable
"Oh, yes, Tm.a fair judge OF a mas.
I can give a pretty decent guess VI q
horses capabilities by just looking II
over. can tell you good deal ABOUT
condition and form, too. Ihats al
right. but it don't help you much IN
hacking. You can't reckon on the men
who have to do with the beasts. that
the trouble. No end to the tricks they
get up to- OF course, pulling horse'
or throwing 1t, are old lodges. Done
every day. But there are hundreds Oh
WAYS of making a favorite lose race
that aren't SO easily detected
The Poisoned Pin.
Cruelty? Well. yes; but that won't
stop a fellow when he stands to gain
three or four hundred pounds. Look
here. sir. not long ago there was
filly entered for big northern event.
saw -: in her trials against prime
old favorite Well. sir. she beat MIN
out Of house and nome. lou ne q
thought the mare had come out OF
gun. She was practically unknown
then, and had a spanking chance OF
becoming the horse OF the year. Inc
owner didn't want any fuss mace OF
her. for he intended to enter nsa it to
fine Oaks. Well, that horse went 10
the big meeting and came In last. NO
BODY was very surprised-nobody out,
side, / mean-for she wasn't eXpeC.eo
to do much But her owner saio
few words. I can tell you. ne sw ore
he'd get his jockey warned on Inc
fellow fairly cried about 1t.
what was the matter? Well; some
gent who didn't want her to win Klnoiy
showed a poisoned pin into nef .etloIh s
Horse was on three legs Tor mohtns =
Oh, don't pretend TO know wn1 fait
II nor when 1T was done. but 1eit
the mares leg a week after ana there
was lump as big as a walnut on her
fetlock.
The Lady Parson.
You can't depend on what you near
Of a horse. They fake the trials ana
tell YOU any yarn about the horses form.
Then. again. there's the dishonesty of
the bookmakers and betting touts. Some
Of them would tell you that the race
hadn't begun, when, as a matter Of fact,
the .nags' were cooling off in the paddock.
Now. here's a real pretty story There
used to be a big racing stud UP on the
Wiltshire Downs-dOesn't matter exactly
where. And the owner was greatly an
noyed to find that his horses form was
always given in the papers. though ne
took the greatest possible care that moth
ing whatever should leak out. At last
he got a detective down from London
disguised as groom. of course-to Keep
an eve on the lot of them. including the
trainer. The tee kept a pretty sharp
lookout. but couldn't for the life of him
find anything wrong No one could make
it out At last one day the detective
saw an old woman crossing the downs,
8 o'clock on a summer morning, and she
was off to market.
..She didn't seem to pay much attention
to the galloping, nor horses; but the de-
tectiye who was standing beside the
.guv'nor, decided to watch her. She
passed down a rough track. within 200
yards Of where he was standing. and sud-
denly disappeared from view. Nobody
took much notice of her. as she had been
seen on many occasions going to the
the tee wasn't quite satisfied with her
sudden disappearance. She had got over
the crest of the hill little too quickly
Making a wide sweep. he crawled along
to the rough path. There was my lady.
sure enough, with a whopping pair of
field glasses glued on the horses. She
was, lying on her face, and didn't see
the fellow coming up.
We'll, the detective sent up a proper
'Halloo" The old girl nearly jumped
out OF her skin. and started of like a
good 'un down the path. In half tick
a good dozen of grooms and stable boys
and Jockeys were after her. Oh, they
caught her. right enough, and gave her
a laundering good hiding. Poor old
girl? don't think! Do you know
what the old lady was? No, i don't
think you could guess in month. A
parson. sir.
The Perfect Para1yzer.
Then there's another little yarn you
might like to hear. You remember that
mare. T?
well, that horse showed more promise
than any horse I've ever seen. A fair
dazzler. Speed? Shed speed enough
for Derby. winner! Sold for 10000
guineas after her second race A per-
to Epson one year. and left her at the
starting post. Rod Stone was up, and
I could have staked by body and bones
on her leaving the field three lengths
behind What happened? A bad third.
sir. How can / account for 1t? All,
that's the point, 1t puzzled half II
dozen vets, that same question. She
hadn't been dosed--in the ordinary way,
at any rate; she hadn't been pulled ;
she wasn't overtrained. But some
scoundrel, vine had been betting his