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FUTURE OF NEW YORK RACING A Lot Depends on Present Day Politics Opeta Gam ¬ bling Has Gone for Good It is an accepted fact among turfmen that if Governor Hughes is reelected every track operat ¬ ing under the jurisdiction of the Jockey Club In the State of Now York will be closed next year and perhaps for all time says the New York Sun Since the enactment of the new betting law the tracks have been kept open as usual but all of them have lost heavily Gravesend for instance is losing about oOOO a day and probably will quit all of 40000 ibchlnd on the present meeting of twelve days daysIt It is conceded that if the race track managers believed there was no chance to bring the sport back to something like its old popularity they would have shut up shop immediately after the HartAgnew bill passed tlie legislature A man who lias long been identified with affairs of the Jockey Club says The Jockey Club has been waiting for develop ¬ ments and there will be action one way or the other right after election day If Governor Hughes is reelected not a track will be open for the next two years if ever again I have always maintained that once the gates were closed they could never be reopened as was the case when the game was killed ln New Jersey It would he folly to attempt to race with Governor Hughe in Albany for there would not be i chanre to get new legislation or anything else that might clear up the present muddle If Mr hauler is elected however there may be some renewed hope not because Mr Chanler Is pledged to sign1 a race track hill but because the present law may be enforced without persecution I cannot siy just what the plans of the Jockey Club are in the event of Mr Chanters election but Ill admit that if they arc successful racing will survive the present crisis It is senseless to believe however that racing under the present conditions can continue With whispered oral bets among a handful of regulars permitted by court decisions the general public is shut out altogether That means small gate receipts and heavy financial losses for all the tracks It also means that even if the yurses were reduced to a minimum the game would not pay because the crowds would be no better than they are at present while the rich men of the turf would withdraw their patronage and support When the new law lias been fully tested In the courts and many points in dispute have been fettled we will know better where we stand but even then the tracks vill not be able to stand the strain of paying out thousands of dollars with noth ¬ ing coming in There is just one thing that wilt save racing and that is an amendment to the law or a decision by the Court of Appeals whlcn will legalize the re ¬ cording of an oral wager If that can be brought about credit betting Will be established and the public can have a chance to enjoy the sport on luwJItid lincsv We do not xxyeOt to ever see the open gambling of former days restored There can never be stools slates cash boxes displayed odds and the handling of money That was bookiuaking in tlie strict meaning of the word The Jockey Club lias not been idle Every phase of the situation lias been looked into and It is now simply a case of waiting to see who will be tlie next governor of the state Nobody believes for a moment that the tracks have been losing big money for the fun of it That ioliey lias been part of the Mian which was framed the moment the antibetting bill passed The track owners think there is a future for the sport If Governor Hughes is beaten but otherwise the gates will be closed and thoroughbred racing will be at an end It endIt Is generally admitted that even under more favorable conditions if they should exist next year all stakes would be cut fifty per cent in value while many of the richest prizes would be wiped out altogether
