view raw text
ENTHUSIASTIC OVER TRENCH RACING H M Zieglers Observations of the French Turf as Gleaned During His Recent European Trip Cincinnati O January 11 H M Ziegler who has just returned from a trip to Europe talks inter ¬ estingly of his observations of the French turf In the course of an interview with the Enquirer he said saidI I went a great many times to the tracks around Paris such as St Ouen St Cloud Auteuil and Maisons Laflitte It is splendid sport over there The racing is conducted by the government and the racing associations are allowed to make only flve per cent on their investment the balance of the re ¬ ceipts goiug to the state The plants are magnificent parks far superior from an artistic standpoint to anvthiiig in this country None of the tracks has such large and elaborate grandstands as that at Bel niont Park for instance but that is because the French racegoers do not seem to care so much for going into the stands They prefer to walk about the lawns which are large well kept and beautiful The very best class of people attend the races and the sight is one never to be forgotten with tin ladies in gala costume and the gentlemen dressed in the height of fashion 1 looked like a piker among the brilliant throng throngAll All the betting is done by the parimutnel sys ¬ tem which is satisfactory to the pnblici Bookmak ing is absolutely unknown as we have it in this country The interest in racing is general all over France or at least in Paris Every cab driver boot ¬ black shopkeeper everyone In fact seems to know as much about the horses in training as the men who follow the turf It is a great national sport in which every man takes an enthusiastic interest interestAre Are the horses over there better than our thor ¬ oughbreds V VWell Well I cannot honestly say that I think so They run longer distances and carry heavier weights Nearly all the races are at distances greater than a mile and many are three or four miles The French would laugh at the five and sisfurlongs dashes which make un so large a part of an Ameri ¬ can race program The jockeys arc much heavier than In this country weighing from 150 jwunds up I should say But I do not know that tint horses are of any better breed than our own Still we have a vast amount to learn from the French ami the English too in the manner of conducting race meetings They lake a keen interest in the spec ¬ tacular end of the game and do not make racing simply a quick chance to get your money Uown All their tracks are on the turf which adds to the beauty of their enclosures The meetings arc so conducted that they arc always attended by the very best people The admission fee at all the tracks is four dollars and they have an attendance of 15000 or more on an ordinary day late In the sea ¬ son I did not get to Paris in time to see any racing at Longchamps where they have the big summer meeting and tremendous crowds The latter part of the season is given over mostly to steeplechaslng which is a popular form of the sport on account of Its spectacular features I understand that there is a movement on foot In France to endow racing and make it purely a government institution A large fund for that purpose has already been laid asid3 When It reaches a sufficient sum something like 100000000 francs the income from this capital will be devoted to the maintenance of the tracks around Paris Then it will not be necessary to de ¬ pend upon the receipts from the gate and the bet ¬ ting and the same high class of sport will be main ¬ tained whether the attendance is large or small They iove the game as a sport for its own sake and they know how to conduct it better than we do in this country
