THE DREYFUS CASEA man who picks a winner the very first time he bets on a horse race often becomes a victim of the same kind of pleasurable confusion that overwhelms a young man when he kisses his first maiden: he is convinced he has stumbled on a secret unknown to ordinary mortals. This is, of course, a snare and more often than not also proves to be a heartbreaking delusion.
There are some few men who are fortunate enough never to discover this awful truth, and for anyone who demands proof there is the remarkable case of Jack Dreyfus Jr., a trim and unusually well- kept gentleman of 5. Wall Street tycoon, though he happens to have the good judgment not to look or act at all like one. This is an article from the March 3. Original Layout. During his working hours, which are long and exacting, Dreyfus is president of the Dreyfus Fund Inc., a mutual investment firm which he took control of 1. During his leisure hours, which are rare and blissful, he could once be found at the Cavendish Club playing masterful bridge with the likes of Oswald Jacoby and the late P. But he is now more likely to be located at a racetrack or puttering happily around Hobeau Farm, his 1,1. Thoroughbred racing establishment near Ocala, Fla.
He is a man who is crazy about horses and, more noteworthy, horses have a way of returning his love in full. Dreyfus is by no means the commanding figure in racing that he is in Wall Street, but he has been amazingly successful in both the running and breeding of horses. His personal definition of happiness is putting on old clothes, clutching a scratch sheet and joining the ordinary horseplayers in the grandstand, that pleasant place where a man can turn a few dollars with a wise wager. Unlike some turfmen, who seem to take pride in relating how much they lose on their racing operations, Dreyfus could if he wished, only half a dozen years after acquiring it, dispose of Hobeau Farm for a hefty profit, and it pleases him to say so. This makes Dreyfus both an oddity and an enigma, for it is almost a hallowed tradition of the sport that when a millionaire takes up horse racing he should pay through the nose like a man. When asked how he happens to be so different, Dreyfus says modestly, . The rest has been brains.
The Dreyfus Affair occurred within the context of the annexation of Alsace and Moselle by the Germans, an event that fed the most extreme nationalism. The definitive book on Dreyfus, in that it is a complete document of the case which reverberated in the social, political and literary worlds during. Kraemer, Milton Rosmer. With Cedric Hardwicke, Charles Carson, George Merritt, Sam Livesey. Comprar The Dreyfus Case (Classic Reprint)de F. Publicado por Forgotten Books.
They usually point out in passing, however, that when it comes to horses Dreyfus seems to be lucky in the same way a fox is lucky. This has been true from the day Dreyfus discovered horses.
Week 28: Thursday, May 21, 2015 The Dreyfus Case. The Dreyfus affair (French: l’affaire Dreyfus) was a political scandal that divided France in. Dreyfus affair, political crisis. By the time of the Zola letter, the Dreyfus case had attracted widespread public attention and had split France into two opposing. Alfred Dreyfus; Born (1859-10-09) 9 October 1859 Mulhouse, Alsace, Second French Empire: Died: 12 July 1935 (1935-07-12) (aged 75) Paris, French Third Republic.
That was back in the '4. Dreyfus visited a racetrack for the first time with a group of bridge- playing cronies, including Hal Sims, who was renowned for risking a bit of his bridge winnings at a mutuel window. The entire experience must have left Dreyfus in a happy daze, because to this day he cannot recall much about the track, except that it was in the New York area. What he can remember with tingling clarity is that while Sims and his other friends dropped bundle after bundle on successive races, he sat down and tried to unravel the intricacies of a form chart. When he finally decided he had a glimmering as to what it was all about, he began to bet. He picked a winner in each of three races.
From that day to this, Dreyfus has been a devout horseplayer, and he has never lost his touch. He is not a plunger, for he takes more pleasure in the game than in the money, but he impresses everybody who knows him with his knack for being on the right horse at the right time. Sometimes Dreyfus will admit that if things came down to it, he probably could make a fine living as a handicapper. But if he has a secret he has difficulty in expressing it, except in the broadest and most elementary way. You have to study a horse's chances in the same calm and detached way you study a stock investment or a business deal. This isn't a problem for some people. But I am an emotional man and, in racing just as in business, I've had to train myself to keep my emotions under control, to always depend on my head instead of my heart.
You cannot eliminate risk, but you can be sure the risk you are taking is worthwhile. Some good horses run at odds that make them not worth the gamble: some not- so- good horses run at odds that make them worth taking a chance on. And the kind of luck you have does not change the odds in the long run. Trying to get even in the eighth race when you have had a bad day, for instance, is foolish.
In fact, the time when you should really watch yourself is when you are losing. He did not, for example, sit back coolly and wait until he amassed a fortune before buying a horse of his own but, like many a good man before and since, he fell in love with a particular horse. Only 2. 6 fillies have been weighted at 1. Experimental's history. The colt produced by this union was Beau Gar, and Dreyfus bought a quarter of him for $7,0. Beau Gar had all the qualifications of a great horse but never amounted to much as a runner because he was plagued by injuries and bad luck.
At this point a less astute man might have lost interest, but Dreyfus was still impressed by Beau Gar's obvious potential as well as his bloodlines. When Beau Gar was sent to stud in 1. Dreyfus' instincts told him that this was his chance finally to acquire a good horse all for himself. There are many wild and wonderful versions of what happened next, but the commonest one is that Dreyfus persuaded Laudy Lawrence, who owned the remaining quarter of Beau Gar, to sell his interest for 1. Polaroid stock. What actually happened is that Lawrence agreed to sell Dreyfus the quarter interest for $7,0. Dreyfus accepted. He then advised Lawrence to invest the money in Polaroid, a stock on which Dreyfus was particularly keen at the time.
Lawrence thought this was a good idea, so Dreyfus bought 1. Polaroid and sent them to Lawrence instead of cash. The details of this transaction deserve some attention, because at the time Polaroid was selling for a fraction more than $4.
Since that time it has been split six for one, and at one point each share soared to a peak of $2. Lawrence received around $2. Dreyfus takes this into account when he sometimes jokingly says that Beau Gar was a decently expensive young stallion, worth $9. As things have turned out, even this price might not have been fantastically excessive for Beau Gar. He has proved to be a marvel in producing good horses out of not- too- fashionable mares, which were about the only kind of mares Dreyfus could afford before his own holdings of Polaroid, and other investments, turned him from a mere fair- to- do into an immensely rich man.
Beau Gar now stands at Hobeau Farm, insured for $1 million and available only to a few select non- Hobeau mares at a $1. Actually, Beau Gar richly repaid the money and faith Dreyfus invested in him with the first horse he sired.
This was Hobeau Farm's famed Beau Purple, the erratic but fabulous bay stallion who won five $1. Kelso in three different races. Beau Purple went to stud this year and there is no reason to think he will not shape up even more brilliantly than his sire. The odds against a man getting two such horses as Beau Gar and Beau Purple for a comparative pittance when he first starts putting a stable together are astronomical, and this is what some people mean when they say Dreyfus is plain lucky.
Other people are convinced that Dreyfus proved to be one of the craftiest operators to enter racing in a long time when he had the good judgment to make a solid investment in an outstanding stallion, for—in retrospect, of course—almost everybody can see that the unproved and injury- prone Beau Gar was a veritable gold mine. All arguments aside, it is a fact that Dreyfus showed much more judgment and restraint than most newcomers to racing, who usually splurge on flashy runners if they have unlimited means or, if they have limited funds, collect a stableful of mediocre horses and hope for a miracle.
Perhaps the fairest evaluation of Dreyfus' success was made by Elmer Heubeck, a seasoned and shrewd owner- breeder in his own right, who is Dreyfus' manager at Hobeau Farm: . If pressed, he usually gives all the credit to his horses, especially Beau Purple, who is the apple of his eye. He's had me by the heartstrings for a long time, and he's more than rewarded me, no matter what happens from now on. Believe me, I'm so thankful and feel so fortunate to have had anything to do with such a wonderful horse. He also is a highly conspicuous example of what people mean when they describe a man as being smart. He is unfailingly polite and unpretentious, and over the years some notably hardbitten turf writers and sports columnists have testified that he is likable and charming. When he relaxes he can be witty and even whimsical, and he frequently complains that he does not relax enough.
But Dreyfus' pleasant manner never quite disguises the impression that he would be a stern man to take on in a business deal, a card game or, perhaps, even a catch- as- catch- can scrap, for though he is of medium height and slightly built, he also is tanned, fit and quick. This impression is valid. Dreyfus is, to start with, something of a mathematical wizard, and he can calculate the cost of a load of hay, the profit on a complicated stock deal or the odds on a horse race in a flash.
He also is a fierce competitor, with a compulsion to excel in everything he undertakes, a trait attested to by his bridge and golf opponents. Dreyfus' own rise in Wall Street has been so steady and so completely expected by everyone who knew him that even his biggest admirers seem more or less to take it for granted. Except for a couple of years of youthful floundering, he has always been headed upward. Because he has not retained a hint of a southern accent, most people are surprised to learn he was born and reared in Montgomery, Ala., where his father was in the candy business.
After graduating from Sidney Lanier High School and winning two city golf championships, he went off to Lehigh University, where he majored in economics and captained the golf team. On his graduation from Lehigh in 1.
Alfred Dreyfus - Wikipedia. Alfred Dreyfus (French: . Known today as the Dreyfus affair, the incident eventually ended with Dreyfus' complete exoneration. Early life. Alfred was 1. Franco- Prussian War broke out in the summer of 1. Paris following the annexation of Alsace- Lorraine by Germany after the war.
The childhood experience of seeing his family uprooted by the war with Germany prompted Dreyfus to decide on a career in the military. Following his 1. 8th birthday in October 1. In 1. 88. 0, he graduated and was commissioned as a sub- lieutenant in the French army.
From 1. 88. 0 to 1. Fontainebleau to receive more specialized training as an artillery officer.
On graduation he was assigned to the Thirty- first Artillery Regiment, which was in garrison at Le Mans. Dreyfus was subsequently transferred to a mounted artillery battery attached to the First Cavalry Division (Paris), and promoted to lieutenant in 1.
In 1. 88. 9, he was made adjutant to the director of the . They had two children, Pierre (1. Two years later, he graduated ninth in his class with honorable mention and was immediately designated as a trainee in the French Army's General Staff headquarters, where he would be the only Jewish officer. However, one of the members of the panel, General Bonnefond, felt that . Bonnefond's assessment lowered Dreyfus' overall grade; he did the same to another Jewish candidate, Lieutenant Picard.
Learning of this injustice, the two officers lodged a protest with the director of the school, General Lebelin de Dionne, who expressed his regret for what had occurred, but said he was powerless to take any steps in the matter. The protest would later count against Dreyfus. The French army of the period was relatively open to entry and advancement by talent with an estimated 3. Jewish officers, of whom ten were generals. The personal assessments received by Dreyfus during 1. Colonel Jean Sandherr, became aware that information regarding new artillery parts was being passed to the Germans by a highly placed spy, most likely to be on the General Staff. Suspicion quickly fell upon Dreyfus who was arrested for treason on 1.
October 1. 89. 4. On 5 January 1. 89. Dreyfus was summarily convicted in a secret court martial, publicly stripped of his army rank, and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil's Island in French Guiana.
Following French military custom of the time Dreyfus was formally degraded by having the rank insignia, buttons and braid cut from his uniform and his sword broken, in the courtyard of the Ecole Militaire before silent ranks of soldiers while a large crowd of onlookers shouted abuse from behind railings. I remain worthy of serving in the Army. Colonel Georges Picquart, reported to his superiors that he had found evidence to the effect that the real traitor was a Major Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. Picquart was silenced by being transferred to the southern desert of Tunisia in November 1.
When reports of an army cover- up and Dreyfus' possible innocence were leaked to the press, a heated debate ensued about anti- Semitism, and France's identity as a Catholic nation or a republic founded on equal rights for all citizens. Esterhazy was found not guilty by a secret court martial, before fleeing to England.
Following a passionate campaign by Dreyfus' supporters, including leading artists and intellectuals including . However, due to public opinion, Dreyfus was offered and accepted a pardon by President . Had Dreyfus refused the pardon, he would return to Devil's Island, a fate he could no longer emotionally cope with; so officially Dreyfus remained a traitor to France, and pointedly remarked upon his release: The government of the Republic has given me back my freedom. It is nothing for me without my honor. The day after his exoneration, he was readmitted into the army with a promotion to the rank of major (. A week later, he was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour. On 1. 5 October 1.
Saint- Denis. Aftermath. The memoirs were published Souvenirs Et Correspondance and translated into English by Dr Betty Morgan. Later life. He was granted retirement from the army in October 1.
As a reserve officer, he re- entered the army as a major of artillery, at the outbreak of World War I. Serving throughout the war, Dreyfus rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. By then in his mid- 5. Dreyfus served mostly behind the lines of the Western Front, in part as commander of an artillery supply column. However, he also performed front- line duties in 1. Verdun and on the Chemin des Dames.
He was promoted to the rank of Officier de la L. Two days later, his funeral cort. He was interred in the Cimeti. The inscription on his tombstone is in Hebrew and French. It reads (translated to English): Here Lies.
Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Dreyfus. Officer of the Legion of Honour. October 1. 85. 9 . A duplicate statue stands at the entrance to the Museum of Jewish Art and History in Paris. See also. ISBN 9.