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C tr it it hi in r;i can jjj do Jlj t: k s: j do Hi ; 1: w we " a e is is s . j of t a a t 1 v c t 1 1 1 : l i i t i : i I ? i f 1 i 1 : i j i : ; I I , ; r " " i " i 5 i g VARIOUS VIEWS OF NEW YORK RACING. Controllers of the Big Tracks Have No Very Definite In Opinions as to the Future. New York. October 2S. Breeders, owners and trainers of race horses will learn with regret that so is probable that no stakes will be offered by the ov local racing associations this year for next season s .j racing. Problematical to an extreme is the local j, racing situation. Officials of the various jockey clubs al an impart no definite information as to future oper- j,. ations. for the reason that they are in a quandary. .n not know how they stand and do not contemplate the ,i any action. Whether racing will be continued or t0 to discontinued is not even considered. Everything per- s fanning to the subject is deferred. Cornelius Fel- , lowes. secretary of the Coney Island Jockey Club. Kj said yesterday: "The situation does not present one j. definite feature. We are unable to say what we will Ct because we have no course In view, and the other j,-, tracks are in a like i-oiwlition. It almost makes me sick fo think of it. hut our usual elosing. of stakes y Noveniber 1 will not take place, and there is no cer- r taintv that we will offer any to close January 1: may not offer any until next spring and possibly w not itlien. Whether the Futurity will lie run next year I caunot say. We have got rid of everything we could wiped everything off so far as txissible u and will proceed on similar lines until the situation clarifies. .... , d "We may begin anew and may not. With us it a not a matter of waiting for election day to have to passed. Having a big interest at stake, we want j-. something more than the governorship to determine c our position and rigiifs. When the courts of final jurisdiction construe tin new law and the application ,., it in so far as it effects us, then, and not till j, in then, will we know how yye stand and what to do. , Accordingly, it is hardly necessary to say we are , anxious to have pending cases reach the Court of rr Appeals and be passed upon by that body as early n as possible." .. , , b "1 am simply hoping for the best." remarked ! Philip .1. Dwver. president of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, when asked his view of the situation. With s respect to the closing of stakes, lie said: "We are waiting until after the election. In former years 0 of our yearling stakes closed in October. This year j, thevhave been passed, or rather the closing has been postponed until January 1, the time when our regn-lar stakes close. It is no use asking me what will f or may be done. I dont know any more than any- j ImmI.v else. But vou can say for mo that if we go ahead we will offer all our stakes as usual and ., nothing will be cut out. 1 cant say anything more until after election. Wo must wait and hope." T Another prominent member of the Jockey Club predicted that unless the courts come to the relief , of the racing associations, the Gravescnd and A Shcepshcad Bay tracks will go out of existence just as Brighton Beach has. "They are," said he. "both 1 contiguous to active building zones and, as real T estate propositions, are very valuable. From a business standpoint it naturally follows that unless they . are mediums of large incomes they cannot yield reasonable returns on the investment, and to con- , tinue to operate them under adverse conditions as racing plants yvould be injudicious and expensive. Sentiment in turf matters is commendable and de- 1 sirable, but will not prevail with men of business . nullifications when heavy or serious losses are to be confronted. It is. therefore, almost assured that , unless conditions change, the Coney Island Jockey Club and the Brooklyn Jockey Club will prefer or . will lie obliged to go out of business. "The Westchester Racing Association, whose plant . is" Belmont Park, is somewhat, but not materially. 1 differently situated. It did not go into racing to make money. Five per cent, was the limit of dividends, and any excess of profit was turned into the racing fund, to be added to stakes and offered In purses. This year, for prudent reasons, the dividend was passed. The association has a surplus and may continue its turf operations on more conservative lines than heretofore, and be in the lield when better conditions develop, as they are sure to in time. Yet the future of the association and park is involved in a haze of uncertainty. The park is mortgaged to the extent of 00,000 and has a capi- tal stock of ,500,000, which does not quite repre- , sent KM cents on the dollar, and it remains to lie seen how long the stockholders will be willing to sustain losses a contingency that is inevitable under existing conditions. "But I am optimistic. 1 lo not believe the courts will go to the extreme that Governor Hughes lias in construing the now law. I am advised that the Hart-Agnew law is only slightly different from the , Percy-Gray law. which the Court of Appeals ruled uiion in a manner decidedly favorable to the racing associations, and I cannot believe that the courts will sustain io contention of the governor and some of his district attorneys that the new law makes it disreputable to visit race tracks whore private wagers are made, or permits procedure against the tracks as disorderly resorts. The election may decide that racing is not so disreputable. "Regardless of the result of the state election. racing interests will seek the assistance of the courts agaiiist the drastic interpretations which the govcr-nor lias applied or sought to have applied. Individual opinions or prejudices will not be allowed to control. We must have authoritative, final rulings that wili either put us in good legal standing or out of busi-, ness. if the courts do not sustain the position of the jockey club racing will he practically, if not absolutely, killed in this state. We must be patient. industrious and eheerful as possible while awaiting final adjudication of the questions which have so seriously affected local turf affairs."
