view raw text
NEW YORK RACING AND BETTING OUTLOOK. Recent Couit Decision Entourages Relief that Racine; Days Will Be Increased. Xew York. May fl. -Racing on the Jockey Club ioui-is which -tiiris next Thursday, may not he confined to three days a week at any iraek. The beta* tat a are jubilant over the announcement of line higher lour:- deci-ion and think that if "oral" lictiing is NMtained there will Ik- continuous meet ings al all tin- courses. If the aiteiiilance grows and the gate receipls show thai the publics confidence is gradually lemming there is no pawM that there will be more than three way* of sport each week. The track owners have been conservative in making plans and lave shewn a willingness to lose money In keeping racing alive, bur as simui as ilnv feel sure that public patronage will be restored thev will niecl the .It ni. im! for more racing with a liberal -m |it of il flic turf iu New York stale is net dead by any means, it has some powerful friend-, and there ■re thortaattda of men and women who are hopeful l..r i:s future. Tie ileei-ii.n which defines •i.ookmakiug." so called, ami legalizes oral wagers at the race tracks I. is rreatly increased the conliileine of race-goers iu Hie future of the turf in this -tate. While thenar- BMP Intricate points to be cleared up vet bv the roar** the one fact made plain by this latest tlecisi. u is tl at Hie public can lie! on the races at Mie tracks ..rally without the slightest fear of at rest. The wonls "Ill ln-t you ap ami so" or "Ill lay rna 2 to i on such and aajrh a barer" will mil In- naaVieal cause for action on the part of ti.e police depart neat or the dectectlvca attached to tl e district attorneys office. flic race track lawyers say that the Appellate Dlvl -It us decision is now the law until the Butter fas be.ii pas-id upon bv the Court of Appeals. The* declared thai the race track bad ■cored a big victory ami that a limited ami. tun of speculation was poa ■tale, with the small fry bettor eliniiualed lor the ■reseat m hast. When Belmont park opens next p"-ia. ■ccordowx io the race track ■ttoraeya, pei -mis xx ln wain to make a bet on the races can do -o without fear of trouble. Inn the will be com Belled io establish credit with prraoan who will accept their wagers. This is a simple matter. It is believed, and will be worked pat. A- it is not a .•rime io make an oral bet or to ■crept any number of them, niovideii the man who does the accepting doe- not record the transactions, it is argued on a common sm-e basis that if oral lets can be settletl in cash ii will develop in due lime that rash beta are not illegal. The iconiing of wagers Is a vital point. It has beea nasaed upon by the eoarta in a general wa.i but has yei to be thoroughly tested, lr is maintained by the nice .rack attorney*, that lr is not illegal for an individual to make a record of the wagers accepted bv a pot her reap who at some lime peal was a .-•ciiied 1 took maker. To prove the legal con nectioii bet a ecu an accepter of bets and a receruVl of the siiine is going to provide a puzzle, the attor neys s;iy Meanwhile a decision has been handed down by the Court of Special Sessions in New York count; which sets forth that an individual can not only make an oral or a cash wager on a horse race, but can also make a private record or memorandum of the same without violating the letter or spirit of the Agnew Hart law. which, it has been plainly shown, in no way applies to the transactions of the bettor. Jusiicc Hoyt wrote this opinion and it is rewarded as one of the most import nut yet made. if it holds on appeal there is nothing to prevent lettors from re--online their own wagers. Ii is also argued that if this proves to be good law there is nothing to pre veal ■ bettor from handing over bit private memorandum of a wager to somebody else to be held by the latter until after the running of a race. That "aopMhody else" might be one of those former liookniakcrs. who will no longer record wager-, though accepting them orally from friends and others who have established credit. In a word, a common sense view of the situation, as it has been cleared up by the courts ho far. would seem to Indicate thai an enterlnfi wedge has been successfully driven ami thai in the course of time there will be developments that will increase the confidence of the racing public. Last summer several tKilice etticials admitted freely that if certain cases were brought to trial it would be almost impossible to prove a legal connection between t. lie man who accepted an oral bet. a second man to whom the bet was repeated anil a third man who made a private record of the transaction. Not one of these cases has been tried bv Prosecutoi Illder to date. In a word it is all a question of evidence, and if the authorities cannot produce sub stanlial proof of violations, race track speculation will soon go along without much serious friction. But organized gambling in a betting ring has gone forever.
