St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-01
MONMOUTH IN BAD REPUTE.
The Public Gets the Worst of 1T
on All Sides.

on All Sides.
The Monmouth course has this season
been perfect Waterloo for the public,
and when it is considered that this
means heavy losses to the class which
pays all the bills it cannot be treated as
lightly as some profess to do. The
American racing public is nothing if
not philosophical. and ever disposed to
take the bitter with the sweet. but when
a great racing association such as Mon
mouth Park seems to manifest an utter
disregard for its patrons and an ever-in-
creasing SolicituGe for the bOOkmakers
it is small wonder that discomfort is not
only felt but uttered. And now Mr..
Withers announces that 100000 will be
spent on this track before July, 1891.
Far better that he first revoiutioniZe his
methods, for if he does not the racing
public will give Monmouth wide berth
before another year rolls round. At no
other track in the East has there been so
many overcoming cauSeS'Of diSSatis-
faction as at the Monmouth course, which
will close its gates Thursday. None of
its innovations have proven successful.
The straight course has been a cOnSpic-
nous public bugbear from the start.
The scheme of running the horses the
reverse way OF the track has in many
cases worked to the marked disadvan-
tage of certain horses. No track con-
StructOr in his senses would have laid
out the paddock i'll its present place,
hundred yards from the finish, Oh the
natural inference that horses would
Swerve at this point, as occurs almost
daily. And multifarious other instances
could be cited of the unprovided-fOr
angular vision of the judges when view
ing finishes over the straight course and
the unprotected space at the finish,
which is a constant inducement to
swervlng horses and menace to their
jockeys. Early BlOSso n was disquali-
fed for an adiudged foul here, caused
solely by the fault of the association in
not providing temporary fence about
fifty feet long to obviate such swerv-
ing. And in the betting ring the
bookmakers hold high carnival in
every way, increasing in impudence and
arrogance as their wallets grow larger.
III the West a rule is in force compelI-
| ing bookmakers to lay against the sta
| bic where two or more horses in the
same ownership start. This protects
| the public TO degree, but at Monmouth
| Park the public has to take care of
| itself. And while we are on this topic
| of bOOkmakerS versus public the time
has come when the associations through
| OUT Tic COuUlry SuOulQ Take Il QGClu6u
| stand, and make rule prohibiting, un-
| der the sternest penalties, all book
makers from owning race horses and
making books as well. AS at present
! constituted bookmakerS every day will
| lay odds against and take money in on
| their horses when they know or arrange
| it SO that they. cannot win. Latterly in
many cases this has been painfully APP
| parent at Monmouth Park, Saratoga,
| Brighton Beach and Gutenberg, and
| the people have no redress what
ever from what is nothing but legaliZed
robbery, pure and simple. Of
course the establishment of a
rule debarring any bookmaker
who OWNS or controls, either directly or
| indirectly, a whole or part interest In a
| race horse would not at once break up
this nefarious side of the business of
racing. Bookmakers would continue to
own horses by proxy, but as soon as
| few WrongdoerS had been ferreted out,
who were thus attempting to evade the
rule, the others would generally get out
| of the role of owner, not caring to risk
greater opportunities with the chalk,
| blackboard and rubber. At Monmouth
these methods of bookmakerS who own
| horses have flourished with impunity
on the straight track, and the officials
| have either failed to see or did not care
| to. With so much money invested in
racing as now, it is high time that the
| interests of the public, which pays all
J the bills. be regarded with more ieal-