The sun., 1907-08-12

ON Gates and Durnen -Ts-day's Hntrses
There 10 no longer any doubt 90 90 the
public's demand for racing In tho metro
poltsn district during the month Of August.
The fact that nearly 10000 persons attended
the opening OF the Empire City track on
Saturday in spite Of the total failure Of the
Union Railway Company TO run lie trolley
cars to the rsoecourse proved oonclusively
that the patrons Of tho surf viii put up with
all sorts OF finconveniences In the way Of trans
portation In order to got q chance TO bet on
the horses With anything like decent
trolley accommodations on Saturday prob
ably 900 persons would have been on hand
to see the races. but In that event thsetraok
= would have been simply swamped. as there
isn't room for such q large gathering. As
II was. there wasn't much elbow room. and
the attendance was just about large enough.
all things considered The trolley managers
said yesterday that they would meet all the
requirements In future. but the public will
take little stock In their promises. 10 N Q
case Of action. not words.
Meanwhile James Butler, who has had
all sorts Of unpleasant things TO contend
with since he made up his mind to conduct
. race meeting at Yonkers. intends to pro-
vide free transportation from the Harlem
Railroad station In Mount Vernon to the
track. II he can hire enough automobiles
and stages he will meet all Of che race trains
with ample accommodations for all who
make the trip in this way. Incidentally
Mr.. Butler intends to build a spur from the
Harlem Railroad direct to the track before
another year. at the same time making var
ious other needed improvements In the
plant.
Regulars who visited the Yonkers track
on Saturday found the atmosphere rather
different from that at the other metropolitan
tracks. There were strangers on all sides.
The bookmakers were all new TO the public,
barring few old timers such as Dick Brown.
Leo Swatts and Fred Cook. but they soon
made friends with the mob and did Q rsttlins
good business. As one of them put 1t yester-
day:
There was q total lack OF wise money. ss
the sharks and sure thing players are away
at Ssrstoga. There was plenty OF tens.
twenties and fifties bet by the public. and
there was a wealth Of good prices too. Thors
was no syndicate business At all. The ring
was open one and the prices we're not
framed by anybody In particular. IL was
possible 10 get to / against horse on one
side Of the ring and or TO on the other
side. II was nice play on all the races and
the books did we'll.
Western horsemen and Jockeys were
dominating factors. but the crowd soon
forgot about 1t and enthused to Q marked
degree. The absence Of many Eastern own
ers, trainers. jockeys and bookmskers from
the track gave rise once more to the rumor
that the Empire City track has all along been
under a boycott" at the instance OF the
Jockey Club. but the success which has
already been scored is liable to make . whole
lot of turfmen, who have been rather timid
about incurring the displeasure Of the powers
that be. flop over with the idea Of getting .
bit OF the liberal money prizes which have
been hung up for competition. Whatever
else may be said OF Western methods, the
indsputable fact remains that the sport and
the track were managed by Matt J. Winn on
Saturday in a most competent manner.
There Ia absolutely no difference between
the way thinss are handled here.- said State
Senator John T. Mccall at the track, and the
methods that prevail on the Jockey Club
tracks. The racing Is clean and that is all
the public wants" |
As far as cutting OF the information from
the poolrooms IL concerned. IL will be the
special aim Of James Butler and his attorney,
James Russell Soley. TO exercise the same care
at Empire City that the other tracks have
displayed in this direction. Supt. McCabe
Of the racetrack police took pains to censor
all stun that went over the wires from the
track. while the territory outside Of the
fences was well patroled. The rooms here
did no business at all on Empire City on
Saturday so well was the necessary data
kept out Of their grasp. With such an auspi-
cious beginning IL seems reasonable to expect
that the meeting at Yonkers from first TO last
will be a pronounced success Furthermore,
IL seems TO be a well accepted fact that the
proceedings In Westchester will not injure
Saratoga to any appreciable extent. In fact.
Saratoga. with the gambling houses closed.
has been pretty dull place to stay this year
and many former visitors to the Spa have
remained away rather than suffer with an
attack OF the blues for whole month.
Intimate friends Of Broadway Aleck Smith,