Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-10-19


boosted up. and weak as pup. an sent to
Rhymes of Railbird."
MY BOSS is always trying.
- N n and so am l."
!" Little Marty Kreuger
L VI was defending the man
who owned him. No
wonder the more experienced jockeys
laughed. The idea of any one talk
ing that way about Jake Devlin.
who for obvious reasons was called
Hippo"
Jake called himself father of
jockeys" but he was more nearly a
slave dealer. His business was to buy
up youngsters for little or nothing.
develop them into race riders. and
1h.n sell their contracts at u hand
some profit.
But to little Marty kreuger his
boss was great man. Jake had paid
a widowed mother three hundred dol
lars, taken out guardianship papers,
and thus secured a riding contract,
that, under racing rules, established
him as the owner of his legal ward.
The boy was one of those rarest of
all things, natural race-rider. He
had fine seat, splendid hands and
an instructive aptitude for the game.
More than that, he knew how to get
the most out of a horse. He made his
mistakes. but it was a matter of gen
raj comment that he never made the
S2me one twice, and that is the test of
q good jockey.
The day came when he hung it on"
Danny Hogan at Belmont Park three
noses" in single afternoon. The
other boys expected a great fist fight
in the dressing room. But Marty was
- nice about it that he earned every
body's respect.
Didn't go to pull n mean one on
YOU, Danny" he apologized. Guess
was just lucky enough to be on the
right horses. No hard feelings?'
The older boy stared out the win
COW.
oh. that's all right" he assured.
"Efave a good time. but don't get the
idea that it was you who beat me-"
Marty puzzled. How come.
Danny"
hut Hogan shook his head. ooh,
nothin'. I'm riding light-that's all;
and l amt eaten since yesterday
morning. The wifes runnin' around
with furs and diamonds. Some day
YOU may find out what beat Danny
Hogan, but for your own sake, hope
you DON'T
That triple-headed victory at Bel
mont Park marked the beginning Of
little Marty kreuger's spectacular ca
reer as a money rider" which is just
what the term implies: 4 boy who
rides for the money.
* x x x
HIPPO DEVLIN was gradually
achieving a reputation as sue
"eSsful trainer. He had won the
confidence of a number of New York
hn tal. 70
horses, and bet heavily when he gave
them the word. These men knew
cry little about racing. but they were
successful III other lines, and they
demanded winners in this. Devlin
gave them winners.
Billy Ten Upper, youthful million
aire, owned most of the horses on
which the killings were made. Billy
celebrated with dinners at which
there was always a flow of wine and
Wit Glasses were raised ito the
stable colors," and to the sport of
kings and the king of sports-Billy
Ten Topper" They always drank
10 good old Jake, bless his fat SOUL"
and sometimes they thought of
Jockey kreuger. but not often. Ten
Topper knew nothing about Marty
except what Devlin had told him:
Ignorant little bum. Eat himself
out of a job if I didn't watch him.
Have to tell him just what to do, or
he'd finish in the ruck. Them jocks
don't know nothin'."
So they gave all the credit to Hippo,
along with a nice cut from their win
nings; and Billy Ten Topper who was
really decent sort, had no concep-
tion of the truth.
But when Devlin had horse
ready" when track conditions were
favorable. when the price was right,
when kilograms had been dispatched
and all the money was met where 1T
would do the most good-then and not
until then, pale and tight-lipped
Marty kreuger was lifted into the
saddle and his owner painted into his
ear:
NO mistakes today. kid. Bring 1t
homer
Easy to say. but oh, how difficult to
DO, Yet Marty kreuger never failed
them once. Sometimes, through no
fault of his own, it looked as though
he was certain to lose, but it was at
such moments that he rose to the
heights of horsemanship and came on
~ the last moment with d whirlwind
finish to nip the leaders by an inch on
the post
Don't draw your finishes so fine"
Jake complained. "Whatya tryin to
do, give me heart failure"'
The boy actually felt called upon to
apologize for giving Devlin a few
seconds of uneasiness.
Tough journey, boss he painted.
Got bumped twice! Rail horse tired
and bore out-nearly spilled the
bunch. That filly of Marshall's was
laying on me all the way up the
stretch-had to ride two horses!
thought l done pretty good to win at
an
Devlin grumbled: Never mind the
bouquets. Pretty near tossed off the
race-thats all you done. Good boy
would "a won in the clear. How many
miles va run this morning."
Marty hesitated. Il laid off today"
he acknowledged. Leg hurts where
7 went into the rail Tuesday"
Hurts you, does it? Lemme see"'
The jockey pulled up trouser leg,
r"vealing a calf that was black and
blue. The human mountain grunted
dcrisively:
Huh You amt even scratched!
Don't try to stall on me. You're down
Tor hundred and seven pounds to-
morrow, SO you can take your choice
of hittin' the road tonight or goin'
without scoffin's. If you wanta work
for me, you gotta stay in the limit,
understand"
MARTY understood. and touched
AVA his cap. Too tired for road
work, he went without supper, turn
ing in early. The next morning, when
the sun had warmed to it's task, the
boy dog-trotted repeatedly around the
mile track, fortified only with black
coffee. He was beginning to under
stand what older riders meant by a
college edu.4tion." Marty was head
ed for Jockeys diploma"