The Sentinel=record. (Hot Springs, Ark.) 1900-current, 1915-01-19
CLEAN RACING is
RULE THESE DAYS
JUDGE c. n. PETTINGHlLL DIS
CUssEs IMPORTANT FEATUR.
Es OF " SPORT OF KINGS"
Public Sentiment All over United
States Is Changing in Favor of Rae
ing and Reputable Men Are in
Charge.
BY Walter VI. Ebel, Publicity Agent
Business Mems League.

business Men League.
There is much food for thought in
the interview given by Judge E. H..
Pettengill, of New York and if sug
cushions he voiced were acted upon
there is little doubt, Judging by the
experience of other communities, but
that local business interests would
materially profit thereby.
Having noted the prefix Judge
some may imagine this is an opinion
upon certain technical points of law,
but such is not the case, for while
Mr. Pettengill is a judge in all that
the name implies his talent is not ex-
ercised in the legal profession but as
one of the arbiters connected with
the New York Jocky club the biggest
and most influential racing associa-
tion in the United States, of which
August Belmont is president, and
which numbers among its staunchest
and most active supporters men who
are a power in Wall Street and New
York state politics.
Judge Pettengill has just returned
from officiating at various tracks
throughout the east and south, and he
is at present making his initial visit
TO Hot Springs. He and Mrs. Petten-
gill are registered at the Majestic
and it was while seated in the lobby
| that Judge Pettengill became most
optimistic regarding the future of
the sport of kings
one statement was most signifi-
cant.
| Everywhere it is conceded that
racing is gradually returning to pub
lie favor. Sentiment is changing re-
garding it throughout the country
People are beginning to realize that
it is not a gambling institution. 1t is
| true that wagers are made on the diff
| ferent races, but wagers are made on
almost any other kind of a contest
too. and every line of business is
more or less of a gamble.
There are better men taking
charge of racing in the United Stat
les. The sport is being purged of its
! imperfections, and questionable fea
lures are no longer tolerated. Since
racing came back to New York state
there has not been one glazing viola
ton of the rules and regulations iii
force on the new York tracks. aud
other cities, the residents of which
Imagine that if racing were opened in
their community undesirable charac
ters would flock to the tracks, have
easily found a most effective way in
which to control that feature.
"Racing-and | mean now the clean
kind of racing that we are having in
New York and at tracks where repu-
table and honest men of means are
in charge-has done much for com
munities that have this feature Sar-
atoga, n. Y, was dead when racing
was taken away from it, One of the
largest and most select hotels there
was torn down and the site made
part of a city park. 1t was almost
impossible to give property away in
Saratoga. but the hotels are pressed
TO accommodate the people who go
there now. They race in Saratoga
during the month OF August.
The European war broke out last
August and there were many men in
terested in great operations in Wall
street who were booked for Saratoga
hotels but who, owing to the sudden.
ess of the war, were obliged to cancel
their reservations, and yet last Au-
gust was a big month for that resort
A thirty day racing program, max
ing a conservative estimate. will
bring to this or any other resort be-
tween 400 and 500 horses. Three dol
lars a day is a very low estimate to
be spent on each horse and man
to look after it, Then there wodld
be easily 1000 TO 5000 persons come
here as a result of the racing That.
! understand, is also a low estimate,
but | am speaking cOnserVatively