Arizona citizen., 1875-08-21
Horse Racing.

tie interest in racing, but very many excellent people do have, and in this community, too. As heretofore an nounced, race is made to come off on the Tucson course on the 24th of Sep tember, between Gardner's "Grey Eagle" and Smith Turner's "Gila Grey" for $1000 side. Distance one half mile. It is understood that the principals in the race are determined to have fair run-that is the fastest animal shall win the money. In this connection, few extracts from Sara toga correspondence of The Philadel- phia Times, may be read with interest here. The matter is written in conse- quence of fist fight between Price McGrath, the head of the turf in Ken lucky, and George Wilkes, editor of The Spirit of the Times, a sporting New York paper. This correspondence is dated July 25, and says the cause of the fight was charge by Wilkes ''that Nc Grath, with the best stable in America, "ran his horses victoriously all the forepart of a season in order to have "his horses backed by the multitude, "and that he then arranged for. them to "lose in order to rake in the odds. He "privately charges that Tom Bowling was weighted with bucket of water two years ago and made to lose, and "that Aristides, fortnight ago, was doctored in the same way, and her "owner, betting privately against her, "won enormous sums of money in the "pools." The two met Tn Saratoga, and McGrath is reported as having said he could not go back to Kentucky under this charge, unless he resented it as he did.
 The correspondent regards the fist fight of these men as incidentally an issue between professional gaming "men and the rich amateurs of the "turf" and says in this connection:
 The turf in America has been twice or thrice in flourishing condition, but invariably an incursion of gamblers has robbed it of responsibility. They broke up racing at Berkeley, the Sweet and other Virginia springs; they made disreputable the Washington rae C course, where Sir Charles and Eclipse brought together the greatest crowd ever seen in America in the time oi John Quincy Adams; they closed the great careers of Flora Temple and George M. Patchen by assailing the latter horse on Suffolk track, Philadel phia; they have disgraced the Long Island courses, and have we'll nigh extinguished the reputation of Mon mouth Park already.
 As an oplnlon on an important point the correspondent says:
 Every one of these turfmen, high and low, bet money, and I do not know that it is considered unprofessional tC |" hedge" against ones own horse For instance, if man knows his horse is broken, and still being entered fol the race the public demands the horse to run, should the owner decline tC avail himself of his knowledge? As I never bet, I do not know But what is betting but advantage? The tur1 ought to maintain itself without all these gambling accessories, but as i never did, it probably never will. The speed of our native thOroughbreds is , steadily increasing; they are said tC beat the best English time.
 In the course of the correspondents explanation of the McGrath- Wilkes fight, he gives the following informa ton which will be read by many who care nothing for racing as well as by those who do:
 The American turf was almost ex tinct at the close of the war. There were some good colts and sires in the country, but all the fine animals had been killed or run down in the conflict I A number of gentlemen in New York chief of whom were the brokers Travers, Jerome and Belmont, began tC import thOrOughbreds and establish breeding farms. This horse stock grows rapidly and the higher demands of agriculture made it very valuable From caprice, or taste, or commerce many new men went on the turf. Long Island, northern New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and the blue grass region of Kentucky were sprinkled with train ing courses, brood mare stables and stock farms MT. Belmont has spent $30,000 upon private track alone The sum of $10,000 has frequently been paid for a race horse in the past ten years. Kentuckians, Virginians, New Workers, Missourians and Alaba mians compete together upon the an nual summer courses of the North, al Jerome Park, Pimlico Saratoga, Lex ington, Louisville and Long Branch and it is claimed that $1,000,000 were invested last year in pools at Saratoga while premiums and sweepstakes amounted to $45,000. A great winner is put in the stud as soon as he is disabled and made a new source of profit, sc that there are three chances on the turf the prize, betting and breeding. You will find in the same coterie on race day at Saratoga the banker, Belmont the cotton manufacturer, Sanford; the hemp merchant, McGrath; the ex slave dealer, McDaniel; the tobacco merchant, Lorillard; Morgan, the brother of the guerilla; the son of Gen eral Harney; Cammack, the broker and two or three regular gamesters Jerome Park is the great metropoli tan course of the North; it was pre- ceded in point of time by the Saratoga Park, of which John Morrissey and the broker Travers-a son-in-law ot | Rpvprdv JOhnSOn-UOt control