Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-01
PLANS OF THE TURFMEN
What Race Horse Owners Desire
 to Accomplish.
MANY YHORSEMEN REPUDIATE
The Gambling Bookmakers and Their Methods Want an Opportunity to Back Their
 Own Entries.

Men who loudly predicted last spring that the anti-gambling laws would bring ruin to both the racing business and the horse-breeding industry find themselves now facing an unexpected condition of affairs. Enforcement of the law, it is true, says a writer in the Chicago Trl- bune, has pretty effectually squelched such tracks as depended for support upon the income from the bookmakers fees and the gate patronage of bettors and, as the sport had degenerated so that nearly every track in the country was run on this basis, the situation may look rather dark to a superficial observer. In many parts of the country racing with betting features has been interdicted al- together; in other sections it is conducted under eVer-narroWinS restrictions Whne only in California and the south are the managers able to run wide open. Despite this however thoroughbredS are selling for big prices, and there is a growing ln- clination on the part of wealthy turfmen to increase and strengthen their stables. Certainly the horSe-breeding industry must be in. pretty good shape when colts like Requital sell for $25,000, and year lings bring $l000 or more under the ham, mer, while as for the raising end of the business, there must be something en- couraging in sight to induce men to Keep up expensive establishments and enter into keen competition for the best bred and most promising of the youngsters offered in the market. And this situation is made the more emphatic by the fact that there is absolutely no demand for trotting, road or work horses, and the prices for these grades are lower than ever before heard of. In only one way can this be explained, and that is on the hypothesis that turfmen have confidence iY, flao f.1tt oft t1a anrt md n prospective much fame and big pecunia- ry gains for those who own and race winners.
 Force is given to this view by the most scanty and hurried analysis. If racing were really dead the trotting-bred and draft horses would naturally be the most valuable and no matter how low in price they might be, the figures would still be larger than those offered for runners. The thoroughbred in his natural state is good for little but racing purposes. When properly crossed with other strains and carefully educated they make fine sad dlers. and the blood has been used to ad- vantage in strengthening certain trotting breeds which had inherent speed, but were faint-hearted or lacked staying powers. AS a rule, however, the thor oughbred Is in temperament build and other qualities essentially unfitted for the ordinary uses of man. It does not stand to reason, therefore, that men would continue to pay large sums of money for horses, the sole value of which lies in their racing qualities, unless there was some chance ahead of winning fame and money with them. Stakes alone, rich as they may be, do not constitute this inducenent, for there are few owners who race their horses solely for the purses or stake money, no matter how large this may be. Indeed. 1t would be difficult to name anybody on the run fO1o do fbn TlnIf anr1fc who allow their horses to run unbacked, unless they are merely trying them out" There is a flavor and excitement ito @ horse race on which there are wagers, and few owners are willing or able to ignore this important feature. They buy horses and race them for the opportunity it affords of betting. These men take pride in capturing the classic events of the turf; they are fully alive to the material virtues of a big stake, but it is In the landing of their wagers that they find the acme of pleasure and excitement. Take the Keenes or the LOT illards, for instance, and 1t would be hard to get one of them interested in a racing outfit if he were to be debarred of the privilege of backing his horses when they ran. No mention is made of the Dwyers in this connection, because they are professional turfmen and make rac- ing business instead of a sport.
 With these conditions thoroughly un- derstood there seems to be reasons for the belief that a little band of enthusi- astc turfmen may go to the New York legislature this winter and ask for a racing bill which will debar bookmaking and Paris mutuals and permit only the old time auction pools. It will be pointed out that most if not all of the gambling houses which have degraded and demor- alized horse racing and forced communi- ties to legislate against it are directly I.IN 4~ -I...- with its opportunities for cheap betting. Before the bookmaker became a feature on the American race track it-wil be shown that betting was almost entirely confined to the horse owners. thefr close friends and few speculative turfmen. Under the old action pool plan men were forced to have considerable sums of mon- ey to make wager with, unless they wanted to take a long chance on the short end, and thus the speculation was of necessity confined to those who were able to stand a loss when it came. It was small pool in which the favorite : did not sell for $100 with the second choice well up in the price, and in many cases the bidding would be started at S2OO or better. The auctioneer had only his commission in view and dt made no, difference to him who lost op-won. He took out his per cent and when bus mess was brisk made a handsome dn- come. The common run of speculators could not bet, except among themselves, or on the small end, and they seldom did this, as it was well known all horses with chance to win were bought up in the pools by the owners. They had the double effect of insuring honest races, as rule, and in creating intense enthu- siasm, for whenever big races like those between Harry Bassett and LongfeIlow and Springbok and Tom Bowling were to be run spectators would crowd to the track in thousands, confident of seeing real contests of speed.
 With the advent of the bookmaker all this was changed. Gambling, bad enough in itself in any form, was made worse, and the way was opened for abuses which grew to audacious propor- tions and threatened to throttle the life out of the racing business. The trouble began when it was made possible for man to back a favorite with $5 instead of $100, and 1t increased in proportion as the bool<ies reduced the size of the bets they would take, eliminating in an epidemic of crime and misery when $1 tickets were written. So long as 1t took $10O to get ticket on a favorite the gambling was at least confined to rich men or pro- fessional spectators, but when the price