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POPULARIZING PARI-MUTUEL BETTING. New Type Machines Recently" Installed at Churchill Downs Represent Another Forward Step. Louisville. Ky., May 5. The keen foresight o Charles F. Grainger, president of the New Louisville Jockey Club, and Col., M. J. Winn, vice-president and general manager of that organization, in introducing in BIOS, the pari-miituel system of wagering has done more to fortify racing in general than anything else that has been done in recent years. The method has already been adopted in Canada by the Ontario Jockey Club and Its adoption in various parts of the United States is. being urged as a means to the perpetuation of racing and an entering wedge to the reopeniug of tracks now closed. Forty years ago betting on race traeks was wholly done through pari-niutuels and auction pools. In 1S74 an English bookmaker by the name of Stanton came to this country and began booking on the New York races. He made money. That induced others to embark in the business. It was not long before bookmaking liecanic so popular that pari-mutucls and auction pools wore banished to the trotting tracks. Willi the enormous growth and popularity of racing, bookmaking operations became so extensive that the sport of rtlcipg was itself overshadowed. This aroused antagonism. Hostile legislation followed. The very existence of the turr in America was placed in jeopardy. Kentucky, through the efforts of Mr. Grainger and Colonel Winn, became the pioneer in the re-introductlou of the parl-mutuel method. The Kentucky State Racing Commission, adopting the suggestion of these gentlemen, abolished bookmaking. So popular and successful has the present system become that there is no chance for a return to bookmaking in Kentucky. The tracks have become prosperous and the racing is free from scandal. The feature popularizing the pnri-mutnels is that the public establishes the odds. The system is one of fairness and the percentage is low in comparison to the rake-off of the bookmakers. It has been successful in all of the foreign countries adopting it. chief among which are Australia. France and the Argentine Republic. By this method of betting the backer invests what he pleases on the horse of bis choice. The whole amount then is aggregated and paid after the race to those who have backed the winner, so that the money stays in circulation on the track. Realizing that the pari-niutuel system has been returned to the turf to stay, Mr. Grainger and Colonel Winn began to perfect the machines. Careful experimenting has been rewarded and a perfect device Is the result. These machines have been recently placed in position in the betting ring at Churchill Downs. Thev- are. there to-yta.v. Practically the same machine will heliccforfh be used in Canada-and lieforo long they will be in general use in the various states of the union,. The present machine is a vast improvement over the old. It has electrical connections and is operated with the case of a typewriter. One man, in selling the tickets to a bettor, registers the sale. Heretofore two men were necessary in this transaction. The machine totalizes. To avoid congestion and to facilitate business in the ring, the management of the Downs conceived the idea of having iron passageways built before each machine. One serves as an entrance to the ticket seller, another serves as an exit. There are twenty-one machines at the Downs. There are three .? machines, six machines and nine ?3 machines, all in a row. and three 23 machines on the opposite side and nearest the race course. The machines were built by Grainger and Co.
