view raw text
DID CELLA RUMOR STOP LICENSE? New York Folks Think It Had a Bearinq on the Butler Application. .7. Russell Sole; or .Tames Puller, has d ■ led I - A. C« Ha lias had or is to I tvi anj connection with the management of the Empire CI | • ck, yet In New York there appears to exist the belief that rnmoro of Bucb a connection bad in. ■;■! to do Ing Commissions refusal of a license tor the Yonken track than the reasons stated In Its resolution denying the Bo tier application. The fa that Rut lei was seeking aid on t side of New York in 190.1, when be made a proposition to Edward Co rigan, gare color to the gossip that some similar an • might have bees aug- ■ I Cella New York, while aol »-=.i ■ tinj to Oel e own r of racehorses, baa o gres t the os ner of rare Sew Yorks newspapers, some of them al ■ •iv that it was the Cella monopoly "of track* and domination of betting al St. Louis tli.it caused Governor Polk to pat aa end to racing la Missouri. ! v believe, too, that had the Cells n been kept oat of the south no laws betting would bare been passed In Ten ■ and Arkansas; that Kentucky would not bare found it ih essary to pat the government of racing Into the ban. is of a commission and that there would not now be rumors of legislative action In Louisiana. in this i nectiofl tie Morning Telegraph makes thi vet • apl itic statement: "If the State Racing Commission bad the merest inkling that Cella might secure control of the Empire City track they would : no farther justification for their refusal to gran! a license to James Batter to conduct a i ting a i Yonkers this 3 e In another paragraph the same paper says: "Hie thing for him Butler to do under the circumstances, II would seem, i- to tile at Albany a new appllcatioa for a license, with proof that Cella lias no o .- plant and cannot have in 1 he Iu ton Sore in tii ". ; conditions are so well understood that to enter Into a discussion as to the foundation for these New York beliefs would be merely a waste of time and space. Bat a summary of the Oetta movement In racing since the days of the St. Loan ■ -1; track as lUostrative of the rast ness of the Vila fortune and the power of that money is not inopportune. The Cella interests built the Delmar Park track. They bought the St. Louis Fair Grounds for . mmukmi. They were dented recognition by the Western Jockey Club in 1901, and. to further a fight against that new organi/at ion. they backed a meeting at Douglas Park track at Louisville in the fall of that year, and liought the Kinlo.-h Park plant at St. Louis to prevent further opposition from the Western Jockey Club in that quarter, and linally succeeded in securing recognition to the extent of two members in that body. They made the Union Park track a total loss for its promoters and backers and then bought the grand -•-land when the plant was demolished. They secured the Hill stock in the New Memphis Jockey Club against the wishes of the directors of that body and then added to their holdings in that organization by buying the stock of the late Captain S. S. Brown. They secured control of Clinton Fark at Little Rock, bought an interest in the Oaklawn track and contributed to the deal that closed the -urs of Basel Park. They bought stock in the Crescent City Jockey Club and are now in practical control of the New Orleans Fair Grounds. They bought the Douglas Park track al Louisville and remodeled it at a big expenditure and threatened to clash against the Old Churchill Downs. This caused the creation of a Racing Commission In Kentucky. They went Into the courts on the question of the constitutionality of that law and lost. They next threatened to build a track to run In opposition to Latopia and made it strong enough to buy into the Estonia Jockey Club, and a few days ago one of their men was made treasurer of that club. They couldnt get it all at Louisville, but they have succeeded in bringing about an agreement under Which they will have a half interest In the pro*. -of both tracks there. They have bought the Groans Pointe track at Detroit and hare a big Interest in the ownership of the Fort Brie track, which is to pass into their hands a tier the meeting this year. They have operated poolrooms In Illinois and Missouri and it is claimed that they are now hacking the Iluhi-is Garden room at Now port. Kv. They arc likewise credited with a big interest in the Interstate News Company, which has been disseminating betting and radng results since the racing department of the Western Union Telegraph Company was abolished. The New York Sun In iis comments on the re fusal of a license to Butler doei not mention the rumored Vila connection. It aays: "Much sympathy was expressed by leading horsemen yesterday for the Empire City racetrack in view r it- Inability to secure a license from the state Racine Conuads sion for a summer meeting in August. Those who read the decision handed down by the commission declared that the reasons ascribed for the tarudswa Of James Duller and his friends were flimsy t" say the least. They pointed out that En spite of the declaration of the commissioners that conflicting dates were undesirable, and that for this reason Empire City could not conduct a meeting on the dates assigned to the Saratoga track: it is nevertheless ■ fact that the commissi m has granted a license to Kenllworth Park. Buffalo, which will bold a aaeet ing this year that will conflict with the sport at two of the metropolitan tracks. "The assertion of the commission that Empire Ity received a license and dales for a meeting in 1900 which was never held brought out the fact that William II. Clark, who built the lookers track, lied liefore he could inaugurate the sport there and that P. J. Dwyer then stepped in and managed a meeting instead. In view of the willingness of Mr. Butler and his friends to comply v.nh all tic re» quirementa of the Jockey club, which might entail the expenditure of thousands ot dollars, horsemen said yesterday that the Empire track seemed entitled to a square deal. It was also pointed out that during the month of August the Btables at the loi al tracks are crowded wiili horses belonging to owners who cannot afford to race at Saratoga and who would receive an excellent chance to win expenses n thej were permitted to race for even ordinary parses at Yonkers. "As far as the metropolitan public is concerned it was shown that id the 10,000 regulars who daily ;-it the tracks in the vicinity of this city, not more that 2,000 ever go to the Spa, which means that, in the event of a meeting at Mr. Butlers Hack enough patrons of the sport would be on hand to make up a comfortable gate. In resorting to the courts it is expected that Mr. Butlers attorneys will attempt to prove that nearly all of the lull 11 eitial members of the Jockey Club hold stock in the Saratoga track as well as several other tracks operating tinder the law in this state. II has been Shown that even without conflicting dates with Saratoga Empire City could have a meeting in re ii a: least three racing daya were topped off the schedule of each of the various racing associations. Those who have the best Interests of the turf at heart say that there should be no friction over Empire City, but that tnc Jockey lull should admit the track for the sake of harmony at a time when enemies of racing are doing their best to kill the sport all over the United States."
