view raw text
HIGH IDEALS DEMANDED ON THE TURF Vmlcr the caption "The Passing of the Rook-maker." the Toronto. Out.. Clolie of Monday do-voted a considerable ixirtiou of its first page to a refreshing and thoughtful treatment of the sport of racing in its relation to the public from tlie pen of its well-informed and widely-known sporting editor. Francis Nelson. The article teems in sou ml common sense and logic and presents some of tlie aspects of racing in a different light than that in which they are frequently set forth in certain portions of the public press. Well worth the ix-rnsal of turfmen generally are the following extracts: •In a way the world has come to demand from tin- s|x«rt of the turf a higher ideal and practice than is ex|x-cted in other fields of human activity. It must have no weakness or deficiency, and customs that are common enough with other things would be ruinous if tolerated in connection with racing. The slightest lack of crcumsix-ction in its surroundings or Control is considered of the greatest moment, and the closest scrutiny attaches to those with whom the race-goer mingles. He may associate with the self-same iktsoiis at every other gathering where people congregate without a second thought or grain of criticism. If racing pays its way and meets its obligations it is lamented over as being •commercialized. This curious a| preciatioii of the sxtrt is not unrecognized by those responsible for its welfare, though they may find expectations created that it is impossible to realize. The demand tor the standard id perfection includes, ol" course, the speculation that has been abundant on trials of speed and stamina ever since man competed with man and horse ran against liorse. The ohection urged with the most persistency, apparently being regarded as the gravest, is that it is possible for one to lose in transactions involving differences of opinion about the merits and capabilitits of certain horses. •■An arbitrary and common conception of the turf pictures it as a sort of modern "Tom Tiddlers ground. where men and women are engaged in the pleasing occupation of going alxntt picking up gold ami silver. As this is certainly an agreeable IM easy diversion — not really work «tt nil — those who have conjured up the scene hasten to participate in it: and when the reality mines they emerge ifhite cross ami convinced that they have Wen badly treated. So difficult it is for a man to admit that he deceived himself. "Nobody grumbles over the fact that the people of Toronto spent this theatrical season .2.~ 0.000. ninety per cent, of which g«xs to American managers and aetata. Everybody is asked to become indignant ,,ver the untruth that those who find their enter tainmeiit in s|«-culating at Wo xibine have to pay an enormous amount for it to American b x k makers. If they did so it would Is- tpiite their own affair, ihe same as the people who s|xUd tlieir money in the theaters. Rut the truth is that last spring the American bookmakers lost altiUst every dollar of the SLiKUK"! that the public won. live local layers being able, under the move-about system, to deal on letter terms for themselves, being well known to their customers. There is this point, too. alxmt the -ourparisoii: That a $." bill wagered at Woodbine g«K s from hand to hand, while the money put into tlie box offices is never seen again. Just what amount of money is actually wagered on a race i-ourse it is almost impossible to determine — except by the yellow newspa|x-rs — hut it is certain that there is no such heavy betting as there was years ago. "The finest and most valuable of horses have been the subject of systematic speculation ever since the breed of the Anglo-Arab was founded by the importa tiou into England ol the Quakers horse that s known as the Codolphiu Arab. Mr. Darters Arabian, and the Turkish charger that Captain Rycrly r«Kle in King Williams wars in -Ireland. The lines of these eastwrn horses, through tlieir prepotent repre sentatives- Matcheui. Kclipse ami Ilelixl — have spread into all civilized countries, and their blood is that of the most highly prized breeds of Kurope. America and Austral: lata. In India the supremacy of the Rritish thoroughbred is so accepted that his progenitor, the Arab, is allowed seven pounds in races. In spite of this advantage. t|ie native princes, who are in a |« sition to secure the choicest of the desert champions, have long ago abandoned them for racing purposes, and replaced them with English or Australian horses. "Not only is the race horse the subject of speculation in all countries, from Kgypt to Alberta, but everywhere, except ill some parts of the Inited States, that is legalized ami recognized. The reason for this consensus of opinion among legislators is not pertinent to this article, which deals with comli-tions. not theories. The systems under which specu-laticn is carried on are not uniform in all countries, but are practically covered by bookniaking and mu-tuel betting. Theoretically, these are identical, in the sense that both afford a means of bringing together the individual bettors for a commission. The exigencies of actual operation, however, frequently compel the bookmaker to abandon the role of middleman, and become a bettor himself, when he had set out simply to collect enough from the hackers of all the horses to pay off the hacker of the winner and retain a certain percentage for himself. Nowadays and tins is becoming increasingly the case — he is randy able to make a round batik. Recauso of the expert knowledge or opinion of his customers, there is little or no support for such horses as appear to be outclassed ami l:e is forced into the position of profiting, or losing, at -cording to the success of certain horses in the list. The superstition that Ixxik-niakins: is a certain road to wealth dies hard, but it is dving. for the race-course bookmaker is en paPCd in a losing business, no coiniHiisating jidvan tages a compaiiving bis expenses, and the ratio of successful public choices on the Canadian circuit standing at over fifty per cent. Kven without a practical substitute, it is the opinion of those who have given the matter attention that the Ixiokniaker would disap|s?ar from recognized racing, localise the time must b - reached when it will Ik- no longwr pos sihle to enlist further capital in an unprofitable venture. •flic liookmaker dix-s not flourish in all countries. In Canada, the Inited States and Kngland he practically has the field to himself, but elsewhere he is cither excluded or has to work in coni|»etition with the machine In all continental European countries and in the South American republics the machine lakes his plaiv. New South Wales and Victoria have bookniaking only, but the totalizator is used in the other Australian states. In New Zealand not long ago one of the lii-msed jockey clubs refused to all iw aaakaaakera to operate at its meeting. They complained to the government and the club was notified that its license to use the machine would be revok d f an discrimination against the luxikinakers was shown. There and in other countries where the machiii- is established the government takes a percentage of the revenue. "Tlie machine betting system is brought to its greatest |x if eet ion in France, and as many as 2.4M clerks are employed in its operation on a big day at Auteuil or I.ongchamps, where the crowd will nuni-lx-r mere than 2 M».o«K1 p.-ople. The puri-inutuel was worked on a small scab- at Woodbine and Windsor a sere of years ago. and at Ouebee recently. It was common enough on American tracks a tpiarter of a eeiiturv back, but is now used in no part of the Republic except ill Kentucky. In that state the auction and tin- pari niutuel are the only legal forms of race course betting, and the State Bactpg Com mission will not grant a license to meetings where any other method is contemplated. The miituel and the totalizator are merely uiechanfeal clearing houses, collecting a com mission for bringing individual Isdtors together. The commission, which in Kentucky is five Bat cent., goes to meet the cost of o| eratiou and maintenance of the club. The machine is a register of the number of investments on each liorse. the total of which is divided among those who have invested on the winner. The whole oiht-ation is nothing more than putting ones choice into a paat, and paying a win mission to the operator of Ihe machine or register. This commission represents the clubs revenue from tlie bettors that it has been accustomed to collect through the fees charged to IxMikmakers. ""They do not have the totalizator in New South Wales or Yi.-toria. though it is used in the other Australian states, but that does not prevent recognition that it is a more economical and satisfactory system of speculation that Ixi.kmaking. The Australasian, of Melbourne. Victoria, has this to say on what is a matter of much interest hi Canada just now: "We have no doubt that the mechanical way of betting must advantage racing by increasing stakes and lessening betting by owners, and any country which can get the machine without paying for it by passing on any of the controlling influence of the sport from the racing authorities to the government will certainly be the better for the change from bookmaker to totalizator. The totalizator does not show to advantage except when i: has plenty f customers. "The effect of replacing the old style with mechanical betting would be to eliminate many of the features that are found objectionable in connection , with racing. When the bookmaker gix-s there is no third party in the transaction, and only individual betting remains. As the machine is in no way interested in the result, its commission being the same no matter wb it horse wins, tin- possible financial consideration of the gobetween disappears. The public makes its own ixlds. and the system is more economical, the amount of the percentage being j known and fixed. All the money, less the cost of opciation. is returned to the bettors. The credit bettor is abolished, as the machine must pay cash. The plunger is deterred by the fact that the more iie lets the hss hi: ratio of odds as he is only knocking down his own price. Resides, it retpiires twenty tickets in a S3 machine if a man wants t,, bet a hundred dollors. There is little inducement to bet since the rate of ixlds cannot be known until the betting is done. "The handbook man d«-s not find it convenient to do business on the races of a track where the betting is on the niutuel system, and he is hampered to that extent. It will md stop handhooking. Nothing will stop that, but it will be reduced to proportions of little or no importance. The camp-follower. who is to blame for almost all the things that bring i racing into ill-repute, is crowded out. and if the effects id the liiittuel system are not quite perfection, they are nevertheless so far in advance of tlie old method in their general advantages that the an- i thorities are determined to give if a trial in Canada, and before another twelvemonth racc-gixis in Toronto may count on seeing racing without bookmak-taar. though they will still be able to back their opinions."
