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EXPENSE OF RACING. "Few persons have any idea of the enormous expense incurred by a millionaire turfman," says the New York Sun of Dec. 20. "Racing has often been called the sport of kings, because of the great amount of money involved and the fact that only men of wealth can race on a large scale. W. C. Whitney headed the list of winning owners the past season, his share of the stakes and purses amounting to nearly 00,000; but it is estimated by conservative turfmen that it cost Mr. "Whitney close to 75,000 to run his stable. " To race on the same scale with Mr. Whitney, Mr. Haggin, Mr. Belmont, Mr. Keene and other millionaire owners, said a well-known horseman at the Hoffman House the other day, requires plenty of money. In the first place, a trainer like John W. Rogers, who handles the Whitney horses, or James Rowe, trainer for the Keenes, must be engaged at a salary of close to 0,000 a year. Then if you want to have two such jockeys as Redfern and Burns, you must pay the price. Redfern received about 7,000 from Mr. Whitney last season, and Burns got 0,000. Without high-class jockeys a millionaire starting in fresh is at a big disadvantage from the very beginning. " If you want to win rich stakes you have to make liberal nominations. The forfeits and entrance fees alone amount to a small fortune. It is safe to say that Mr. Whitney during the past year paid out 5,000 in forfeits and fees of various kinds. A rich owner generally has about twenty horses in his stables and it costs on an average about a day for each. This includes feed and stable hands and practically covers all other items taken in connection with the care of the thoroughbreds. At the rate of 0 a day and 200 days in the racing season here, it would cost 6,000 to keep a stable of this size. Transportation is another large item, so that one can readily see that many rich stakes and purses must be won before expenses are paid. " A poor owner, who has half a dozen selling platers, has expenses correspondingly small. He generally trains the horses himself and engages any available jockey at the prevailing terms, 5 for a winning mount and 5 for a loser. He does not believe in big stakes, but depends on overnight events or selling races, where he has a chance to win a purse of 00, 00, 00, 00 or a ,000 now and then, which always comes in handy. He can maintain his few horses at a day each or less, and his transportation is kept down to a minimum. But it is pretty hard picking for these poor owners on the Metropolitan tracks when they have to buck up against the powerful stables of Keene, Whitney, Thomas and Shields and many others. It was a fact that during the fall meeting at Brighton there were 350 horses stabled at that track, and at Sheepshead Bay and Gravesend, that had not won a race all the season. Their owners were pretty nearly all in, and, a long, cold winter made them handle their loose change gingerly. It was a- question of moment how they were going to be able to pay feed bills. Some of them succeeded in scraping enough money together to take their horses to New Orleans, where theyve got a chance to put their feet on velvet before next spring-. "1 can tell you that it is a pretty risky business to start a racing stable if you havent a bank roll to draw on. Luck is everything in racing. Some people have it with them all the time, and they are enabled to build up a powerful stable in time. Then they can afford to lose now and then, because theyve got the capital to win back all they drop. Other poor fellows have nothing but adversity to contend with, and in some cases their run of misfortune is pitiable. Yet with the Fates against them they hang on, always hopeful that something will turn up. "An illustration of the vicissitudes of poor owners was the case of Wally Fessenden, the former baseball umpire, who owned Pass Book when he won at Jamaica at 100 to 1. Fessenden said recently that on the day the killing was effected he spent his last in the morning for breakfast for himself and wife. He had arranged to have two Wall Street men bet ,500 on Pass Book, his share to be half the gross winnings. After the race Fessenden cut up nearly 0,000 with the brokers and is having a most comfortable winter."
