Evening star., 1938-04-06
PRICES CO TO 2O-1
: IF NAG IS EXTINCT
Man O. War 81, Admiral rs
for Fear They May Sneak
Into Turf Classic.
By John LARDNER.


handful of pioneers got together and
organized the Benevolent Order of
Winter Bookmakers Their motto was
always Give the Customers Square
Deal" They repealed it in 1884.
Under the firm leadership of Lo-
renzo de Medici, Caesar Borgia, Dick
Turpin, Jesse James and Light-fin-
gered Lester Q885-1925) the organ
iZation grew steadily until it became
one of the major industries of the
world. Today there are l,039 winter
bookmakers in this country alone.
The winter bookmakers always is
alone Nobody likes him very much
except his mother, and she is apt to
become neutral herself, in the course
Of a few years.
Assuming that the chances against
the average 3-year-old horse running
In the Kentucky Derby. let alone VIM
ming it, are 80 to l, the winter book
maker is off to long head start He
gives you 20 to l in February that
this average, horse won't win. BY
March, if the animal still is alive, the
price is IL to /. By April, whether
the horse is alive or not, the price is
s to l.
Dead Horse Might Win Derby.
You cannot blame the winter book
for being cautious. There is no case
on record of a dead horse winning the
Derby but suppose one did? The
bookmaker might be stuck for 1925.
He has to be careful. Thus you can
understand why winter bookies have
been known to visit the grave OF an
tallegedly extinct animal, dig up the
remains and test them with steth-
oscope. If the horse turns out to be
very dead indeed, the odds automati-
cally go up to 20 to l again.
At the end of every winter price
list you will find number of 500
to-1 and. 1,OO0-to-1 shots. In many
cases these steeds actually exist
sometimes in Africa, sometimes in
Asia. sometimes as near by as the
Sandwich Islands. If they were to
turn up in Kentucky on the day of
the race it would be embarrassing for
Bill COllCeIlleu. oO tllc DOOhlildhSA 10
taking his chance.
myself have been blackballed sew
eral times by the Benevolent Order of
Winter Bookmakers because my odds
were too long for comfort. My latest
pricelist. though, should soften the
hearts of the Membership Committee.
It is modelled on the work of some
Of the true masters of the trade.
CANDLES on Man O. War.
am laying 8 to /, for instance,
that Man O. War will not win the
Derby. You say that's gamble, and
you're right. The big fellow lives in
Kentucky. What is to prevent him
from leaping over the wall, arriving
In Louisville by bus shortly before
post time, picking up jockey at
the clubhouse bar and beating the
ears off those other hides?
After all, he's only 81 years old, the
very prime of life for a horse. Horses
are notoriously long livers, if they live
clean. And Man O. War has not
touched a drink in seven years, not
since that slight unpleasantness in
Kansas City.
So much for Big Red, as we book
makers call him Chats the only
printable name we ever did call him).
The other horses have an even better
chance of winning this years Derby.
All except Papyrus. Papyrus is buried
In England. The price against him is
Is to l.
Here is the official list:
The official list, as of this week:
Stagehand-Even money.
Fighting FoX-20 to 10.
Dauber-19 to 18.
Menow-18 to II.
Morvich- to /.
Zev-5 to /.
Sir Barton-10 to l.
EXterminator-20 to /.
Bucephalus at so to l.
Bucephalus-50 to l. (This power
full slayer, which formerly carried the
green and white colors of Alexander
the Great, has been missing for sew
eral centuries, but you never can tell)
Petunia-6O to l. If they ever un-
hitch her from that grocery wagon in
Augusta, Ga, this spirited f1lly is
liable to go places.)
Strongheart-75 to /. (Clocked in
2:5s5 for the three-block distance last
week at the helm of milk cart)
Wurzburger-80t to /. CA real threat
at Derby weights, after is years with
the Oomlaut Beer Co., Inc)
War Admiral to 5. MAY become
the first horse in history to win two
Derbies in a row, unless the men at
the gate are very careful whom they
let in.)
That is what we winter bookmakers
are up against. Myself, I have an
uneasy feeling that Traveller, a sturdy
chestnut which carried Gen. Robert
E. Lee around in the War Between the
States, will make trouble in the Derby
field if the going is sticky. But am
every inch the sportsman, and will
offer IL to l that Traveller is not
in the money.
In case of tie, you lose.
Ha1faC,entury