The Wellesley Kid

There is a certain high rolling friend of mine who has devoted himself to handicapping the New York horses. I talked about his nocturnal habits in an earlier issue. His name is the Wellesley Kid. His race track habits are very set.

If there is one thing that he likes better than an even money horse it is a four to five shot. Even better than a four to five shot is a two to five shot and so on.

He delights in tapping out his bundle on a certain New York router called Amstel. When Amstel whacked out all the other cheapies in a $5000 claimer at Aqueduct a few weeks ago and romped home by a sweet six lengths the Wellesley Kid was a heavy contributor to the odds-on price of three to five.

He confidently told me that he had pushed so many coarse bills through the hundred dollar window that he needed his binocular case to carry away all the tickets. He felt that the race was in the bag, and he was proved eminently right.

Amstel toyed with the leaders for a mile and then in the last furlong turned in a stretch run that was more than adequate. He then took his binocular case full of tickets to the hundred dollar cashiers and watched them push a bundle of coarse bills at him--his original investment plus their many happy new companions. He then bid me adieu and strolled to his Merceds in the Aqueduct parking lot and vanished into the Long Island mist.

His modus operandi is an calculated as it is certain. He appears at the track in a pin-stripe suit, wing-tips, and a smile. He is carrying his binoculars over his right shoulder and one of his two lackeys carries the briefcase with the condition books and results charts. His lackeys run errands for him such as checking the shoe board, the condition of the running surface, the direction of the wind, and noting down his comments. These messengers also share to some slight extent in the profits.

When post time nears for the race that he has singled out for play, he dispatches one of his men to the paddock to make a last minute check of the condition of all the entrants. After the horses come onto the running track he personally observes them through binoculars and checks his horse for any sign of latent stiffness.

When he is absolutely certain, he bets--usually $1500 at a clip. In the Amstel race he was more than certain and he bet much more. In the evening he returns to his club deep in the heart of New York. He is under thirty, single and partial to yellow shirts.

If the track is fast and the skies clear I am sure that I shall see him in the clubhouse at Saratoga waiting to bet on Arts and Letters in the Travers. It should prove to be a delightful and profitable afternoon.

Follow route No. 93 North to Rockingham Park. If the selection is scratched, play the public favorite.

1. TAILLEVENT was second in last.

2. NOR JON has the class over these local sprinters

3. THE HECKLER tries to win a bet for the stable.

4. PRINCE MURPHY will be ignored by the crowd.

5. SPENT FURY has shown good races against males.

6. SWORD LINE cuts a swath through these.

7. MODEST JUDY is sore but fact.

8. BOLD ACCENT must go wire to wire to win.

9. CARRY BACK BOY has been announced as a go by the stable.

10. CRANBERRY BOY is a New England special.