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JOHN W GATES AND RACING Plan of Intense Speculative Oper ¬ ations Lost on the Turf Ho and Cad Doggett Keen Com ¬ petitors Gates Family Is Now Extinct Now York December 2 The death of Mrs John AV Gates recalls many incidents in the life of Joltu AV Gates her late husband who was pfrhaps the must daring of all speculators on quick action cvrrits ii tin history of the turf in this couiitry Possibly none of the old English plungers that one reads of would have i ut up more money n a gambling transaction tiian the late John AV Gates who was frequently alluded to as Kctcher a Million Cates CatesEverything Everything lie did in life was big Small things had no iliarm or interest for him If lie conH not build a Hippodrome or Plaza he did not care to bother with anything in the construction line This of rours was during his late years of busi ¬ ness In the turf his ideas were to speculate Iurrfes did not amount to a row of pins One set idea he had that of entering stake horses in sell ¬ ing races then wagering thousands of dollars on them at short prices and protecting the animal when put up at auction His methods broke un what would have been many a good contest but horsemen grumbled only a trifle for by running second to one of the Sates horses meant a much 1irger profit to them than winning for their share in the race was frequently far iu excess of first money But horse racing was not as profitable to Mr Gates as were his other business affairs It could not be cornered and many times he has suf ¬ fered through the vagaries and uncertainties of horse racing It proved a rather expensive luxury even or MrGates owing to his excessive gambling habit Hut for that his stable would no doubt have been ns successful and profitable as others the owners of which are more conservative in tlteir speculating transactions transactions2LTOGING 2LTOGING HETHODS OF JOHN W GATES GATESIt It cannot be said that Gates methods were bene ¬ ficial to the turf They broke up the general unison that existed Harmony was destroyed in races where there was a Gates representative where it did not belong There was always a certain amount of suspicion that the betting dominated the race nd si ort This siKiiled the interest from i gen ¬ eral vieiv Hut many a time the intentions of the great plunger Old not materialize and ho lost many a horse liy the claiming clause in the conditions only to buy him back at an almost enormous loss be ridrs losing possibly many thousands in wagers The grueral supposition was that Mr Cates would have to win three races out of four to break any ¬ where near even on his speculation His turf operations were not confined to this country solely IJc invaded Europe more than once and it is claimed vui fabulous sums on races and sorting events On the home grounds however Cates always had a desire to win from the late Chid Doggett who so far as his capital extended was as determined a spciilator as G tes It was nothing fo Cites to offer a wager of 25000 on a horse and when ¬ ever Doggett thought lie had an even chance to win it the wager was accepted It was sometimes a battle of wits between them There were days vijen Doggett would have Gates owing him many thousands of dollars Gates to try and get even ttn one nice would want to bet almost unheard of wagers with Doggett But the shrewd little speculator would give John one of his illusive little smiles and say Mr Gates Ill take just about ptarter of your offer I need a good nights rest tunight and one of your checks soothes me to bleep Even on the time of a race John Gates would play high 25000 BET O2I BOSEBENS TIME TIMEWhen When Roseben created the seveneighths record it irclmont Park Gates bet Doggett 250JO thai Roseben would either accomplish or beat a stipu ¬ lated time and won it He offered to bet ten limes the amount but Cad demurred saying Mr Gates I can buy a lot of peanuts with j25000 Many like bits of repartee were passed between the pair pairCharley Charley Gates the only son of John AV also had much fun aiul amusement with his father at times lie frequently opposed his judgment anil would Ixft him a few thousand on the result of a race Many times the younger Gates would win and when the old gentleman would hand Charley a check for his winning the latter would remark Dad Ill just about break you one of these days but Ill loan you anytime you are a bit short tpou one occasion the younger Sates borrowed his fathers automobile to go to Sheepshead Bay On the way out lie was arrested for speeding On being asked by the traffic officer to whom the car belonged Charley replied Mr John AV Gates The nest day the old gentleman was haled to court to answer a charge of si eeding when he was not near the scene The senior Gates was a bit ruffled at the joke and gave Charley quite a talk on the subject telling him lie ought to carry his own trouble and not shoulder them onto him To this Charley replied that it were better for the old gentleman to pay a fine than have the son go to jail as he hail been in the hands of the law several times Illfort and may not have escaped with a fine for his most recent offense offenseWith With the death of Mrs John AV Gales the Gates family tre becomes extinct It was the one su prtiiic desire of his parents that Charley should leave ii son in the family to inrpetuate the name Itut this was not to be though lie married twice without leaving a link to hold the family tree to ¬ gether Hut both father and son will live in turf history in generations of the future futureThe The name of Mrs John AV Gates will live in the annals of philanthropists and war workers for sUe spent much of her wealth in charities and relieving those in distress
