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ABSENCE OF PLUNGING IN THE EAST. High Rollers of Other Days Have Disappeared 5,000 Fountainblue Sold for ,000. New York, July 19. Matt Allen has sold Fountainblue. for which James B. Brady paid F. A. For-sythe 5,000 as a two-year-old, to Earl Llnnell for ,000. Fountainblue. now a five-year-old. failed to race, to expectations in the Brady colors, although he occasionally showed a flash ot the speed which was responsible for the fancy price paid for him. His only start this season was at Sheepshead Bay, when he went to the post in a mile race for selling platers, and on that occasion lie was entered to be sold for . lie did not win, nor was he claimed out of the race. Mr. Brady; who bought Accountant for 0,000 and Oiseau for 8,000, is never seen at the race tracks nowadays. His turf venture, after severing his partnership with F. C. McLewee, Is said to have entailed a loss of nearly 00,000. Another absentee Is E. E. Smathers. who bought McChesney for 0,-000 and proceeded to race on a big scale until he found himself 50,000 on the wrong side of the ledger. John A. Drake, John W. Gates. E. R. Thomas, Frank J. Farrell and other high rollers of former days have not been seen at the races this year. Neither lias Charley Ellison, once a big plunger, who recently sold his horses for a song. Turf plungers, for that matter, are few and far between in these days. Big wagers are infrequently made. Dave Johnson, who won 2,000 in a single day at Belmont Park two years ago. Is now hitting the high places when lie bets 00. Johnson says he will never desert, the turf, but that he has become convinced that theres nothing in plunging. Any layer will admit that the betting has been reduced to a minimum and that speculation nowadays is merely a matter of sentiment which affords both fun and excitement. A ,man who should express a desire to wager ,000 on a horse would find it a difficult task to place the money.
