view raw text
HORSE BREEDING AND BETTING BETTINGThose Those in Canada who are in favor of the revival of race track betting declare says the Toronto Mail and Empire editorially that without it horse racing cannot continue and that without horse rac ¬ ing the thoroughbred horse will deteriorate and eventually lose those qualities which make him by all odds the most valuable of breeds Opponents of betting on the contrary urge that horse racing will continue whether there is public betting or not There can be little doubt that on this point thfe opponents of betting are right There will always be horse racing It is another question whether the breeding and racing of thoroughbreds on the present or rather the prewar scale will continue if there are not the prewar facilities for betting The present breed of thoroughbred was established long before there was any public betting and when the most famous races were simply sweepstakes among the horse owners in other words when the only betting was that done by the owners of the horses competing and their immediate friends It may well be doubted if the breeding and racing of thor ¬ oughbred horses was ever a paying investment for the great majority of people who engaged in it For the most part these were wealthy men who found their reward in the racing itself and in the prido of breeding and did not expect to make their hobby a profitable one oneNor Nor is there reason to believe that even in the past fifty years or so when facilities for betting have been multiplied the men who breed and race the finest horses have greatly profited by the sport AAe hear of bookmakers growing rich we hear of jockey club stock bought for a song tremendously increasing in value but for one man who was in moderate circumstances and by close attention to breeding and racing made himself a millionaire we can name ten millionaires who took up horse breed ¬ ing and racing as a sport and lost rather than made money out of it To say that the best horses have been produced where the betting has been heaviest is beside the point The best horses have been produced in England but so have the best dogs and cattle and breeders do not commonly bet upon them In the present discussion the onus would appear to be upon the betting men to show that without unlimited facilities for betting the breed of horses will decline in this country and also upon their opponents to show that there is anything in ¬ herently unlawful or wicked in a man backing his fancys whether on a horse or a game of golf
