The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-05-19
THE FLAGNf.tN


Nobody loves tho nagman. He Is
the trade mark OF defeat The sw ish
of his little red flag has blasted many
a hope and put big black spot on the
T career of what looked like a good
horse until he made a mistake or got
the worst OF hub rubbing affair at a
point where the Judges could not see
who was to blame.
Every afternoon during n race meet
Ing the tlaCInan stands AT his dusty
station on the stretch ready to put "A
"rimp in the Joy of a few who thought
they had winner only to find After tho
word was given that their selection
was either shy OF speed or racing man
ncrs both OF which are always fatal
+ on race track. To the1n the nuttcr
az the hit of red bunting rings down
tho curtain on what at one time looked
+ Ike an enjoyable afternoon.
At all up-to- date race meetings. the
/ fasinan is A necessary evil They come
I in all kinds of attire from i dappcr
old gentleman in red vest and creas-
( ed pantsloons who Apologies when
over he Is compelled to send Il horse
10 the barn. 10 an OK groom with
brand of conversation that is 2 cross
between n few pages from tho Wear
hook and a handful of tales from the
Arabian nights.
The faGman's position is net a very
interesting one. still there arc a few
people who make n bid for il To thcU
tho n1anoeHvcrinr of tho drivers and
horses whom Scorjn. has 4. fasciua.
ton while they never forget tho lsn
conversation that Is uSrrt when Il DRIVER
finds that An outsider has slipped INTO
his position, or when the horses in
the front tier rush off before the trail
efs have turned
In racing, tho f'agman acts on the
reverse, He is not expected to- pay
any attention to tho leaders which
supply all II the thrills for the snec-
tators and quick work IN the Judges
stand whom the arc finishing heads
apart The tailenders arc his prey.
r As he io}a spreads out on the second
trip IN the back stretch on = half
mile track ar approaches the three,
quarters on tho larger oYals. these who
begin to fall back make the cog move
under his hat T..
Tho leaders n5sh by without a
glance from thc tscman. lie is not
Interested in clever driving. whipping
or shooinr. Ills eyes are on the poor
devils in tho dust with an odd glance
At the judges stand for his signal
When it comes, the haEuan Is busy for
few moments. making mental
~
by the horses whose heads failed to
reach him before he dropped The na~
Accuracy * a Nory important item with
the facman as his report IS always
disputed by the friends of the falter-
ing farorite. There are also days when
a driver sweeps by with tho remark
TEN in il for vou IL | am in" and
some If them fall for it.
In duo tim" tho nagraap plod- Ia tho
Judges stand and makes his report.
, There arc days when his portion OF
the announcement X awaited with
= moro interest. than Tho name of tho
-vtlraf- wIIIncr- one of Tho775 HoTnr al
Lexington in 1913 when Don Chanauit
after winning tho first heat of tho
-fI<ontuck r'uturity in los 81 made a
series OF breaks ON the next trim and
caught the nag. and another in tho
same race in 1917 when a bump at
the three quarters nut Miss BERTHA
Dillon out of it, There was another
of a very different character at Do
troit in 1887 whom Leland Girl after
winning tho first heat was laid up 10
the long distance in the second her
driver overlooking tho fact thar II was
CHANGED en- account of C;can smith be-
ing distanccd This was tho race that
Don csttc won after tho Judges took
81 hand in tho proceedings and the ono
tiYa- f,toscGt his rarcer
In The series Of races for tho Charter
Oak Purse tho fagman caught THREE
favoritcs. Ecnilworth Was tho first
He went down IN the seventh heat ot
! tho event that Toe Davis won in 50 =
Guy dropped out III 1855, Spofford :
voar whom hc refused IL strike trot
while SCORING for the Grsl h"ai Sadie
Maa was TIC third. h'r VIZ oin~ CARGO"
hein~ terminated when she dropped
dead in 1905
Bcrt Herr the honncir~ brother al