The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1946-08-15

intriguing.
line in the bet
ting ring is always good for a long
conversation with someone you new
er laid eyes on before and are destin-
ed never to see again. Yesterday it
was an old man, reeking of spirits,
unshaven and unhappy He had
been losing steadily and was bent on
a comeback on the fifth race. Re
garding me amiably, if bleerily, he
displayed a muCh-spent two dollar
bill and assured me that the Mum
Der -Four horsh wash 'sgood' sany
horsh in the race"
Then he squinted at the odds board
and solemnly informed me that it
was definitely "anybody's race, any
how He seemed to want encour-
agement SO I agreed that though
wasn't playing the Four horse, 1 held
it in high esteem.
He shuffled away from the Win
dow clutching his ticket in a grimy
paw and a few minutes later the
Four horse placed and paid $3.50.
Only the poor old man was on his
nose 1t just didn't seem to be his
day.
Then there are the groups of shirt
sleeved men who stand about with
one eye on the odds board and the
other on the racing form Pencils
poised, they make mysterious nota-
tions and consult in hushed tones
among themselves. Finally they're
off to the betting ring, looking a
little worried. This type usually
heads for the ten dollar window.
in an effort to appear experienced,
I have, on several occasions, bought
and earnestly poured over the above
mentioned Bible of the tracks"
All ever found out from perusing
the Racing Form is that I can't read
it any better then I can timetable.
Which is to say that it makes no
sense to me at all.
Nothing has ever interested me
more at the track than the number
of old ladies who apparently get to
the grandstand about noon and sit
firmly and grimly entrenched
through all eight roces. They are for
the most part, prototypes of all the
sweet old ladies who used to meet
every Friday afternoon at the
Christian Church in Pendleton, Ind
lana, and quilt busily as members
of the Ladies Aid. 1 have often
wondered what the story would
have been, had horse-racing been
allowed in Indiana.
There they sit, decorous, but excit-
ed, and extremely competent in fig
uring out the Racing Form. They
usually place their own bets and
? their faces during the race-and af-
terWards-offer one of the most
strangely touching studies in human
nature imaginable.
There are the big operators, look
ing pretty sharp, who dash to the
paddock and study the horses while
they wait for tips from the jockeys.
Every race is a sure thing to them,
no matter what the odds board has
to offer, and off they rush to the bet
ting ring to lose another thirty dol
lars.
Not being an habitue of the tracks
I'm not prepared to speak with too
much authority but the ''big opera.
tors" know, who play the jockeys
tips, are the most consistent losers.
Then you have those down-at-the
heel and shady characters who sidle
up to you and huskily enquire if
you'd like 'sure thing in the Six
th?" The first time it happened I
was all for listening to what the man
had to say - until I found that in
order to hear it had to cross his
palm with silver, at which point I
decided that I could lose enough
money playing my own haywire
lunches.
The girls at the track, from the
teen-agers on up, usually play a
horse because they like its name, or
for the superstitious reason that it
has some sentimental association for
them. Obviously, if your going with
a boy named Jim, the best bet of the
day for you is Mr. Jim. Or if your