The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-05-23
Abolition of Horse-R Racing
By Frederic J. Haslin.

selling for less than 10 ps cent of their
 one-tfme value
 It was the booixmaker who ruined the game. He played both ends against the middle with too great success. Sta tisticians have figured out the per- centages of the bookmaker. and these figures show that his chances were sixty to forty. In other words, for every dollar that was posted in bets. ne made 50 cents and the bettor 40 cents He might lose today and also tomorrow. but the end of the season
 would show him we'll ahead of the game. The man who could least afford IT, was the most frequent loser. He was the "pike-," the fellow who put up his money on "hunch," or laid 1t because he had heard a rumor from the inside that this or that horse was going to win a certain rs.ce. The poor fellow did not know that the book makers start most of these rumors themselves. that the bookmakers laid their odds after some one held stop watch on the entries at their sunrise tryou.ts. The public simply consti- tuted itself the guardian of the 'piker' when it banished the bookmaker.
 Never in legislative history has any sport died so hard as when racing met Its death in the New York Legislature. It Is reported that more than $700,000 was spent in trying to stay the resist less tide of public sentiment. But 1t was without avail. The Agnew- Hart law was enacted. and the bookmaker In New York became a man without job. Then California became the Mecca of the sporting element. who fiocked there like the gold seekers in 1S4s. But that State promptly admin istered black eye to bookmaking. and some $5.oo0,00o worth of racing plants were rendered useless. Then Louisi- ana followed the example of New York. and betting was stopped at New. or leans. Colorado also turned a cold shoulder to the sport, and even Ben- ming. near Washington. once the gath ering place flor Senators. Representa- tives and other high Government of- ficfals, has an unused track on account of an anti-betting law.
 In some States the war on racing has been most dramatic. Next to Gov ernor Hughes. the man who was prin- cipally responsible for the outcome in New York was Senator voelker. On the day the vote was to be taken on the Hart-Agnew bill, those opposing its passage were confident because of the fact that Senator voelker was seri- ously i'll. In violation of the orders of his physician, this legislator was carried on a cot into the Senate cham Der at Albany and cast the ballot that decided the issue. In Louisiana a Sen- ator. so Ill that he was hardly able to stand .arose from his seat at Baton Rouge and virtually closed the tracks in that State by his vote In Missouri the question was decided bys Senator Hicks of Sedalia. He first voted against the reform legislation and ex- plained that he did so in order to make good his promise to the State Fair people. This seemed to assure the rac- ing element victory by the narrowest of margins. but on the deciding bal lot the Senator changed his vote. He explained that he had voted for the Fair people on the first test, but on the second he voted for himself.
 The recent decisions of the New York courts that personal wagers would be lawful has not helped the race tracks much. as that sort of betting cannot be safely indulged in except between friends. But at the same time 1t has served to give people of means who visit the tracks in parties all the ex- citement of the old regime. the while eliminating the '.piker." The tracks around New York are making a tre- mendous effort to pull through In spite of the heavy handicap under which they labor. and even if they fail to meet the expenses this year, the sea-. son will not be counted an entire fail- ure.
 The plight of the thoroughbred does not apply to harness racers. They have value outside the race track, for fast drivers are wanted on every speedway in the country. The indica- tons are that light, harness racing will ha %ha Il &a.I. eclipse of the thoroughbred. The forthcoming season promises many speedy youngsters. and some of the seasoned trotters and pacers are show ing remarkable speed in the spring straining.
 The thorou ghbred may well feel that it was not always thus. Without go- ing back to the time when Thothmes I of the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty, wrote in his papyrus diary how he had acquired the fastest race horses in Solomon. wisest of men. acquired racing stable. paying s3,o00 fora single horse; without going back even to England and her kings devoted to rac-, ing, one can find George Washington Q lover of the turf and a judge of the races.
 Virginia is the mother of the Ameri- can thoroughbred. Bulle Rock was first brought there from England in l7S0 and great sire he proved to be. The race horse was the associate of the cavalier, and his nome on Ameri- can soil was Virginia and the Caro- linas. Charleston. S. C., held the first regular meet and the best horses of the South were there. After South Carolina came Maryland. and it Is re- later that even the church looked with kindly eyes upon the sport.
 Puritan New England did not take kindly to racing for many years, and Dutch New York thought more about draft horses than thoroughbreds. Finally. however. New York became interested in the thoroughbred. and after a few years John c. Stevens off, fered to back Eclipse against a1lccom- CTS for $20.000 a side. This ofter was the South. Col W. R. Johnson, John Randolph of Roanoke, and other South ern breeders took counsel among themselves and accepted the challenge. They selected four horses to be taken to New York, the best one at the time to go against Eclipse. John Richards was regarded as the best of the four. but he was injured in training. Finally Sir Henry was selected.
 The order of the race was four miles heats. best two out of three. Even in that early year of 1928 more than 60, 900 people went to the track to witness the event. In the first heat. Henry led all tho way. Tn the second he led for the first three miles, but lost by a mar row margin at the wire. Eclipse had safe margin at the end of the third heat Thus was won the first great na- tfonal race.