The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-17
NO FEES IN ADVANCE
NEW RULE ADOPTED BY THE INDI-
ANNAPOLIS CLUB.
Good Prospect for n Fine Summer
Mceting-Purses and Stakes Will
Aggregate $4,000.

The Indianapolis Driving Club is making
preparations for one of the largest summer
meetings to be held in the West August
IL to II. Purses and stakes to the
amount Of $4,000 will be offered.
The club has made a radical depar-
ture from all previous methods of con-
Quoting stake races. No money will be re-
quired from nominators until the night be-
fore the race in which a horse is entered
Heretofore entrance fees were payable in
installments, beginning at the time of en-
try and continuing monthly as earned UNI
til the race came off. The money was of
no advantage to the club, and inasmuch
as the rule Of the National Association
bars any man who fails to pay in the
amount of earned stakes, the club con-
cluded that 1t was a needless hardship to
require the horse owners to lose the use
Of even a small amount of money for the
time. This plan was adopted by the club
when the meeting was arranged, and at
that time had never been accepted by any
other association or club; but since the an
nouncement by this club the plan has been
followed by many others. and it is believed
that by next year the payment of entrance
fees In advance will be a thing of the past.
The plan Is very popular with the horse
men. and it is believed that to it is due
the fact that an unusually large number of
nominations have been made for these
races. Tom Taggart said yesterday that
the club had never had as good prospects
for a fine meeting as it now has. There
have been more entries made than ever
known before for stake races in this city.
The entries close April /. when all horses
must be named. The stake events for the
meeting are as follows: For two-year-old
~trotters eligible to ESQ class, $500; for two
year-old PAGERS eligible to 2:45 class, $500;
Tor three-year-old ~trotters eligible to 2:40
class, $1,000; for three-year-old PAGERS ELI
gible to 2:30 class. $1,000; for ~trotters eligi-
bic to 2:30 class, $1,000; for PAGERS eligible
TO 2:25 class. $1,000: for ~trotters eligible to
2:22 class, $1,000; for PAGERS eligible to 2:1S
class, s1.5o0; for trotters eligible to 2:1s
class, $1,000; for PAGERS eligible to PIP class,
Sl,5o0; for %trotters eligible to 210 class, 81
Uo; Tor PAGERS eligible to 200 class, s., 1000;
Grand Hotel stake for 2:15 PAGERS. 5000.
Besides these, there will be a large num-
Der OF purse races and special features.
which will be announced later. The spring
meeting, which, If held, will be during the
week of July 4, hassnot been fully decided
upon, but 1t has been considered sufficiently
to say that the chances are largely in favor
OF It, There will, of course, be no stake
events then, but there will be purses sufH-
cient to attract some of the best horses on
the turf. Altogether. horse racing for this
season in this city seems to have very
bright prospects.
Eastern associations are just now giving
the subject of big stakes a very serious
thought. and the probability is that the
future will see no more such stakes as last
years Futurity, in which the stakes and
added money amounted to $4,000. A Chicago
racing man, who has had thirty years ex-
perience, in speaking of the retrenchment
which seemed to be the order of the day, in
a recent interview in the Chicago Post,
said:
while a certain glamour attaches to the
offering of fabulous stakes. the custom is
wrong, in my opinion, from every point of
view-wrong In principle and wrong as a
matter of business: That a man should be
race seems out Of all reason. 1t Is dispro-
portionate to the values that obtain in COM
amount of brains and energy employed. It
is poor policy, too, on the part of the race
tracks, as they might much better divide up
the big stakes, so as to make more liberal
values In a number of fixed events.
Take the Futurity and Realization of
last year; for instance. The former had ST.
amounted to $4,000, bringing the total value
Of the stake to $4,000. The Realization had
$4,000 added, and in total value was $4,000.
Both, being produce stakes, are certain to
receive large lists of nominations, and the
accumulated entrance fees, f~orfeits, etc.,
would alone be worth running for. Instead
of adding 1880 to a race like the Futurity,
why not reduce the fees so as to insure a
still larger patronage; add 5000 and guar
antee the stake to be worth, say, $4,000?
This the Coney Island Jockey Club could do
with almost positive assurance that the I'LL
innate value would largely exceed this
amount.
Another feature of these two events that
ought to be modified is the starting fee.
In both of them an owner has to pay $3.50 to
start, in addition to his entrance fees. which
altogether brings the cost of starting up to
about $500. This $3.50 starting fee, considered
from the clubs point of view, may be right
enough, SO far as the F~uturity is concerned,
for there is always a large class of two
year-olds to draw from and a large field
Invariably starts for the event. With the
Realization, however. the case is different.
The three-year-olds are diminished consid-
erably by the time the Realization is run,
and unless a man has a frSt-clasS colt he is
not at all likely to give up $3.50 to start for
the event, while If the starting fee were
500 he might be tempted on the off chance
that through accidents his colt might finish
among the first three. To reduce the start
ing fee would unquestionably improve the
Realization, which has always been COM
peted for by small fields and has never yet
resulted iii a first-class contest"
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