The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-07-29
TURF GAME A MONEY MAKER.
Public Gets Short End of 1t. While the
Racing Associations Make Millions.

racing Associations Make Millions.
Millions of dollars are annuallv won
and lost on the race tracks of the coun-
try, says the st. Louis t-Dispatch.
II Is an interesting speculation as to
wnere All this money goes. Many there
are who believe that the bookmakers
get most of it, but this is a delusion.
1t flows into various channels The
racing association, the bookmaker, the
lout, the 1ruit vender, the programme
seller and the ''tipster' all get a por-
ton of it.
1t is, of course, impossible to trace
1t finally, but sufficient is known to
the racing associations get the bulk of
1t. This is reasonable because this is
the primary object for which these as
sociations are formed.
The race track business is one of the
most profitable of enterprises, and there
are no instances, of which the writer
is aware. that racing corporation be-
came a bankrupt.
The business is conducted on a cash
basis, and the margin of profit is large.
In almost all the states and territories
of the Union, racing is legalized, and as
the sport is exceedingly popular, a good
average attendance is always assured.
The racing associations get the money
on the same principle that the widow
in a poker game gets all the chips, if
they only last long enough.
Suppose six or seven persons sit down
to game of poker at which there is a
widow" and it is only a matter of
time until she has all the collateral.
In the same manner the various rec
ing associations are the widows" of
the sport of kings
The dollar, or as in New York, 81,
admission fee paid by the public, and
the daily tariff on the bookmaker for
the betting privileges of the game all
go to the widow
This is what has Yoada Y1oa1u Of a
racing men of the country the rich
men that they are. c. S. Busch, of
New Orleans; Thomas H. Williams, of
San Francisco; Ed Corrigan and John
Condor, of Chicago; Celia, Adler and
TILES, of st. Louis; Phil Dwyer and
others of New York. have made i'm
mense sums of money at the business.
OF course the racing associa tons
claim that they give an equivalent for
what they get.
In exchange for admission fees they
give. races between thoroughbreds at
varying distances, and from time i'm
memorial this has been the most ex-
citing and thrilling form of sport. Its
origin has been lost in the mists of
antiquity, and in Europe, Australia,
South America and the United States
it is more popular today than ever be-
fore. While there are many angles
to the racing game that the moralist
will not approve, yet it must be frank
ly admitted that it is not entirely
without advantages.
There is no question whatever but
that the thoroughbred breeding in
dustry of such states as Kentucky,
California, Tennessee, Missouri New
Jersey and one or two more is a prom
inent factor in the economic and in
dustrial development of these COM
munities. kentucky and California
have made millions out of the bust
ness, and despite adverse legislation
Missouri is rapidly forging to the front
as producer of racing stock. The
industry is also important from the
fact that 1t helps to improve a breed
of animal that is a large element in
the commercial affairs of mankind.
There is a prevalent opinion in the
public mind that the bookmakers get
nearly all the money on the race
tracks. This is an erroneous view of
the situation. In the long list of the
knights of the chalk from San Fran
cisco to New York and from Buffalo
to New Orleans the number of book
les who are successful are but a very
small percentage of those engaged in
the business.
There are several reasons for the fail
ure of the "pencillers'' to make the for
tunes with which they are generally
credited.
The most important one is that of ex-
penSe. The average monthly expendi-
ture of a. bookmaker is $4,000. In a sea-
son lasting six months this will amount
to $4,000, and all this must be recouped
from the spectators before the book
maker can make any money.
A number of persons who believe that
bookmaking is an easy road to wealth
go into the business with very limited
resources, and with little or no knowl-
edge of the form of the horses or the
peculiarities of the game, in a short
time find themselves in the touts and
the "piker" class.
Besides this, the majority of book
makers are inveterate gamblers, who
are constant worshipers at the shrine of
chance, and these invariably lose To-
day the number of successful bookmak-
ers in the west is limited to about
dozen. George c. Bennett, of Memphis;
Marcus Cartwright of Nashville; Bar
ney Schneider, of Woodlands Stud; Fred
Cook and Louis Celia of ST. LOUIS Leo
Mayer. of Chicago, and George Rose, of
San Francisco, are the most successful
outside the metropolitan circuit, and
they have become rich by strictly adher-
ing to the elementary principles of the
game.
IT is hardly necessary to say that the
public does not win at the sport of
kings" They may feel amply compen-
stated by the thrill of a close finish or
the excitement caused by the victory of
a long shot on which they have wager
ed. but the money they bring to- the
track eventually finds its way into the
strong Golfers of the association. Tt is
not expected that the public should win.
IF the public won the bookmakers would
have to go out of business, and without
the pleasure of betting the public would
not attend, and without the public there
would be no racing