The Waterbury Democrat., 1940-07-22
TODAY'S SPORT
 PARADE
BY HENRY McLEMORE

Limited Press Staff Correspcndent)
 New York, July 9 - U.pl-The more I see of the people who bet on the horses around New York City under the new pari-mutuel system, the more I wonder by some one doesn't open a track for mule racing, or goat racing, or event cat, chicken, or COW racing.
 The finish of the race is the thing to New Workers, not the race itself, or even what is racing in the race. One proof of this is that on days when the racing cards have had lit- tie or nothing to offer in the way of good horses, the play in the pari- rnutuels has been as great as at many tracks when the real thor oughbreds of the country were matched against one another. New Workers just plain, everyday like bet. They have put up with the most terrible inconveniences in order to risk their money. There isn't track around New York that is able to comfortably handle the crowds. Half of the bettors can't see any part of the race. They have to stand in weary lines to get bets down or collect money, and even the transportation to teh tracks is enough to frazzle the nerves of a bargain basement habitue.
 Without Reason
 A good guess is that nine-tenths of the people who play the horses around here don't know one thing about racing, and furthermore don't care. The odds they establish through the totalizator, day in and day out, are the most ridiculous youll find anywhere in the cotif1- try. Ninety percent of the money bet is bet without rhyme or reason. They pick horses by the Chinese system, the hat-pin system, the pretty name system, the hunch sys- tenn, the barber -told-me-system and scores of others just as futile.
 It has been suggested that Metro politan tracks owe their tremendous patronage to the fact that tens of thousand of New Workers are curi- ous to find out what a horse looks like without a traffic policeman rid- ing him, or without a 111ilk-wagon behind him. They know nothing about the various stables, or the jockeys, or the blood lines, or the traiers, or the distances, or the times, or the past performances, or any of the things that are import ant to a true horse lover. There is no more kinship between crown at Churchill Downs, say, and one at Empire City or Aqueduct, than there is between Uncle Sam and Aunt Jemima.
 That's why I say am surprised that some one has not started rae. ing mules or other animals. Say you started a mule track. It would be much more profitable. Farmers would bring in their mules and race for very small purses, being as mules are not as expensive to main- tain as thoroughbred horses. There would be no need for expert and ex- pensive riders, or for high-powered trainers.
 The fact that the mules took pI1IEG UT 4OuI Ul1lutCo " AdAA Q AAAAS wouldn't make one bit of difference to your average New York race track devotee. He would only be gratified, and feel that he was get ting more for his money than he did at horse track where the races are over so quickly. Speaking of times, I have always maintained that the New York tracks could flash a new worlds record after every claiming race and that only a few perosns would question the validity of 1t.
 To make the mule track com plete success, you could eliminate the seventh race and put in rou- lette, with names of horses instead of numbers on the wheel. This would give your New York "horse lover" a chance to get even for the day, without having to bother about the unpredictable qualities of the four legged animals.