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SWEEPSTAKES IN RACING _ A ARE ESSENTIAL TO THE WELFARE AND DIGNITY OF THE SPORT. a Great Closed Events Capture the Public Imagina- j, tion and Encourage Breeding for the Im- ■ I provement of Horses. 1 New Yolk. January 17. — One of the racing clubs . of tin- eastern rireuit has recently announced tliat . its future polley would e to no longer off r SUlcp-stakes closing in advance of the mff ting, "it would _ eonfinc itself to the offering »f liberal purses and j overnight events. It is not within my province to s comment u|hhi this. Every racing dub is within t its rights in such a matter, and it may have excellent reasons for its action — reasons of which I t am not informed. Hut. on the abstract question of * sweepstakes vs. purses. I feel at liberty to com- t incut, as it concerns the standard as well as the 1 prosperity of racing. I would not venture to oppose I my judgment to that of gentlemen, for many of ■ whom I have the highest regard, if I had not ol - tained. during an active participation in racing covering a lifetime, an experience which encourages me to attach to my opinion, a certain competency within these limits. J Before proceeding further. I may be pardoned if I define what constitutes a sw opstake. as "a race j in which stakes are to be made by the owners of the horses engaged, and it is still a sweepstakes . when money or any ether prize is added." It may i close a few hours before the race, but the kind of . a sweepstakes we have in mind are those closing | weeks, months, or even years before it is run. In ] this country we hear a great many people call this "a stake." On the contrary a •"stake" is 1 the owners subscriptions, and the subscriptions | put together are the "stakes." Yet. many people ] sacrifice sense for sound and call it "a stake." just i they talk of a horse going "under the wire" ; fas then- is no wire, instead of "past the post." or 1 calling men who figure on races for betting pur- poses, "handicappers." who never made a handi- ■ cap. But this is aside from the question. Sportsmanship in Sweepstakes. To abandon standard sweepstakes and adopt purses and overnight events means to race for public money. Public money means money derived from admissions and betting privileges. Racing for public money spells danger, especially in Eng-lish-speaking countries where a certain element is always arrayed against betting, and ever ready to attack it. When racing depends wholly upon public money, it is living under the shadow of the enemys guns, which are liable to open fire at any time, and by legislation, to deprive it of the revenues which make public money. In such a CMC, it probably would mean the suspension of racing itself. Hut on the other hand, if owners subscribe to the sweepstakes, they are. to a great extent, racing for their own money. In that case, they are in a better position to withstand attach, inasmuch as they can show that their racing is not wholly dependent upon public money. The object of the average man in life is to get money: and the object of other men seems Hi be to prevent him getting it. Heme, no man. or organization of men, is ever attached unless he or they are making money: and the more money he or they are making, the more liable is he or they to attack. Accordingly, a racing club which endows no valuable stakes, bat is thought to draw large revenues from betting privileges is playing with dynamite. Sweepstakes determine the value of a race horse — they increase his earning capacity. During 1PM the colt Canipfire won 0,000 in sweepstakes. No one will pretend lie could have earned one-quarter of that sum in purses or overnight events. In 18gg Domino won H71.MB * demonstration of the possibilities of a racehorse as a money winner witli sweepstakes as the prizes in DM17 din won SIH.S.-3M. When a horse is offered for sale the first question asked is. "what engagements has he:" The Value of Sweepstake Engagemetts. A few years sinee. Mr. Dwycr paid , PM for the colt Bolero and 0. 500 for Dewdrop. Would he have paid such price* if they had not been engaged in all the rich stakes of the year. Would Sir J. Willou.-hby have given S43.00O for Harvester at Lord Falmouths sale but for the fact that lie was beuvfl engaged in stakes worth four times thut amount. Why does the sagacious Mr. John Madden nominate colts each year for the Epsom Derby.- It is doubtful if lie has any idea of racing thesa in England. But lie knows that if one of them proves of high class, like Sir Martin, it adds 50 pec cent to the price for which lie can bell him "with engagements." The breeding interests has also to be considered. To abandon the sweepstakes rates would cut the prices for yearlings :, per cent — their prospective earning capacity determines their sale value. If Here is a possibility of nominating them for valuable sweepstakes purchasers will pay high prices. Hut. if only purses an be won. nobody will care to pay a high price. When Karon tUrsefc gave S2t ,SW for the yearling filly La Fh e ho. he had her Derby. Oaks and St. Leger engagements in mind. When Lord Hosobery paid 0. INK for Bonnie Scot-lam! by Thormanby 1 ill 1S7S. it was influenced by the act that the colt was heavily engaged AVIi.n the late Mr. James U. Keene paid |15,000 I for Spendthrift, it was because he was engaged in all the stakes of ]S7 ». and Mr. Swigert. who sold him. diil so with a contingency of 20 per 011! of his ongageiiu nts. The value of the important stakes encourages blieder.s to strive to bleed the best hiss of horses Which, as yearlings, will bring the highest prices .it sale. Hence, the breeders are compelled to pay liberally for the best lass of sire-, and dams. which gives a Tatar to banco and mares which haw finished their racing careers. Thus, owners are enabled to SCO at as g 1 prices to breeders as they pay breeders for yearlings. Kor rxampl . Mr. Belmont oral last seas. .11 enabled to sell Prior K ... k to Mr M.nden foe stud purposes at a price rar _lv. ltOt*«l as b.-lueell .S-pl.lHMI .Hid 0,0UU. This horse had SJOU Hie Belmont, Brooklyn. Suburban and Saratoga » up. Hut if only purses and overnight races were offered, tin standard of breeding would decline, values in horse Ooah would I I shrink, as breeders would be content to buy and breed from heap stick. Betting- Necessity Is Reduced. Racing for sweepstakes reduces the necessity of owners to bet if betting is to be considered as objectionable as some people claim. With racing only for purses, an owner often feels compelled to bet ill order to pay expenses, as the purses are not of sufficient value But in stakes their value is sufficient to render it needless for an owner to bet. Suppose he pays a subscription of and his horse wins a race of SI. 000 — he is getting odds of 20 to 1. which is far more than he is likely to get by betting. In the race for the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga last season, won by the colt Camp-fire, his owners Mr. Wilsons 1 subscriptions, five • in number, amounted to S0OO. while the value of the stakes was 8,850, or odds of over 30 to 1. Where the niutuel system of betting is in operation sweepstakes are more than ever necessary. If there is bookmaking. an owner of a high class ; horse might if a betting man, run him for small I purses, because he can back him and get odds long enough to. in some measure, make up the difference in the monetary return. But in mutuels. the more he backs his horse the less will be the profit, as the public "fedlow the money" and cut tli - dividend to almost nothing. Thus, a high class horse becomes of as little value in respect of his earnings as the ordinary selling plater, or less To race for purses that they derive from public money is not calculated to attract a desirable quality of ownership. It attracts a class of men who [ have no interest in racing be-yond its pecuniary profits, men who cannot afford, or are unwilling, ■ to make subscriptions to sweepstakes. With them 1 the value of races js a matter of secondary importance: the betting is the only excuse for their prcocojce on a racecoone. They are content to race for pulses, and. on the principle that "it takes l all kinds to make a world." they are a part of the racing aggregation: but they do little to add to the popularity of the sport. Great Prestige to Sweepstake Winners. Lacing for valuable sweepstakes means high-cliss s racing. Their prestige and their value attract first t e lass heroes. As early as September last. Mr. Whitneys borscs retired to winter quarters. "Yen retired early." I remarked to Mr. Ilowo. . their trainer. "Why pot? — there are no more stakes worth 1 starting fe r." he- re-plied. Asiele from their pecuniary value .the great stakes s give their winners 1 prestige- the- winning of purse* s eaaaot confer. In England, it is said a Derby f winner Is a markeel horse for the balance of his life — his fame is even posthumous. The same is s true to some extent, here of a Suburban. Belmemt. . Futurity, or Kent it ky Derby winnir. To bare won a great stake is the hall mark of quality. Such races are run by the picked hetises of tin-day, boroeo whose OUUeil think enough of them to pay subscriptions for them, and to defeat such horoeo, stamps the- winner a champion. 1 hire- are- people who will attend the races, no matter What tin- duos of racing. But it is the HCat stakes which attract the multitude. The 11 ligieinist has his holy days, the patriot Ids holidays, anil so has the racing enthusiast his Suburban. BrooUyn, Belmont. Kentucky Derby and Futurity days. For fifty years the Belmont has been a fixture: the others nearly as long. They have acquired the dignity of classics. They have traditieiiis powerful enough to affect the imaginn-ti.m. ami a prestige- ami a glamor to stimulate the ambitie.ii. ••Suburban Day." anil "Futurity Day " are- like a triimp.-t call to the children of the turf to assemble by thousands, and "Dermis- year." or "Colins year." awaken memories of high-class racing, which purse racing never iU»- . W. S. Vosburgh.
