The Washington times., 1928-12-11
By Ford 9. Frick

nond Jim Brady and Others.
BY Ford g. Frick
During his meteoric career
that started that day in New
Orleans when he was given
$40 by an overjoyed winner,
Riley Grammar won and lost
millions. Twice he was worth
fortunes estimated at two mil
lions / of dollars. Numerous
times he went broke.
On. one occasion at least ne was
$50 900 in debt, without q sIngie
asset, except his word; without any
trace Of backing except his iron
nerve. But he never quit; ne never
asked for quarter-and ne never
lost that somber, wistful snllie.
Grannan's greatest coup, the one
which first brought him to the at
fention of the turf world, came IN
thaf Famous race when Henry Of
Navarro and Domino ran dead
heat. Convinced that Henry oI
Navarro would win, Grammar started
tn make book against Domino. he
wagered $4,000, then $4,000. But
the action wasn't fast enough Tor
him.
Standing ON the clubhouse
lawn. ne leaped suddenly 70 q
stool and began shouting prices
fwo nOiFlfs under those Of conf
neting boOLies. His entire fOr-
tmme was wagered. He bOr-
royved $40. 900 from a friend and
wa9ered that. He stripped from
his finger q diamond ring thaf
had long been his harbimger Of
luck. and wagered that against
cash.
"If I had had six hands instead OF
two. he said later. Il couldn nave
taken the money offered heard
| the cry. They're Off heard the
pounding hoofs. My heart beat un.
| til ii seemed it would choke me. BIT
held my post. never moVeu'
| And finally, came the thriiing an
nouncement, Dead heat
One hundred and fifty Thousand
| dollars Riley Grammar stood to lose
on that race. Yet ne never so mucn
as deipned to watch the finish, And.
| desuite his tale of the beating heart,
men and women who were there
declare that from start to finish
there was never so much as a trem-
or of a single muscle; never TOT
an instant did Riley Grammar lose
that half smile.
In actual dollars and cents Gran
mans wagers were small compared
to those of later plungers of the
track. John Gates oyer-topped MIN
ten to one. So did Dick Canfield,
the imperturbable. So did Pitts.
burgh Phil Smith. and so, too. dl0
Arnold Rothstein. who so recently
ps ssed from life on the wings OF
an assassin's bullet.
But Grammar was the first or the
picturesque characters trail
maker for the others. 1t was Gran
nan who first taught what gam
bling nerve was; Grammar VINO
first showed the way to high
stakes. and Grammar who first set
the style in taking losses with a
grin.
The rule OF the gambling frater-
nifty is. Don't welch! 7! Greater
than any other commandment, II
dominates the field of gambling
actiVity-and here, too, was Gran
mons first and only rule of conduct.
Three times during his meteotlc lc
career he was broke and deeply IN
debt. Once he rode back East
from California in box car after
trying upsuccessfully to buck the
California tracks.
Once, after sGuandering for
tune on New York tracks, he
went broke and took passage
+ to Europe. travelling In the
steerage and under an assumed
name. But each time he came
back to pay all his creditors and
ride again into the limelight
on the wings Of what the world
knew as "Grannan luck.
Daring. cold. d.blooded, fearless in
his gambling, Grammar. in other
things, was shy and diffident. Ruled
off the tracks by the Jockey Club al
one time in his career, he fought IKE
A lion to be reinStated, carrying the
case into the courts to prove that
he had not been guilty Of bribery as
charged. And, then. once the case
was won, he was too difrident to go
back again--and waited nearly two
months before he could work up
enough courage TO make his appear
ance at the track from Whlch he nau
been ruled.
Grammar, unlike most OF the Ia
nous plungers, was not interested m
Broadway and the bright lights.
Born a Westerner, he remained
Westerner at heart, and Broadway
was ever a strange and foreign spot
to him. as enigmatic to him as he
himself was an enigma TO Broadway.
He married a Broadway girl. 1t
ia true, q Miss Daisy Dixon, who
was appearing in a Broadway show.
Rut It was an unfortunate venture.
They soon separated. and for years
afterward Grammar was kept busy
lodging warrant servers, VINO
sought his arrest on the ground OF
nonsupport. Mrs. Grammar finally
died, the victim of acute alcoholism,
and thereafter Riley Grammar had
nothing to do with women.
CTO BE Continued