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ROBERT H LAUGHLIN TRPB Representative Extolls Turfs Clean Honest Operation Run Better Than Any Other Sport or Business Extant Robert H Laughlin States StatesBy By TEDDY COX COXHobby Hobby of the rich and top entertainment of the middle classes thoroughbred horse racing is more cleanly and honestly oper ¬ ated as any other sport or business extant Yet through a series of circumstances dif ¬ ficult to understand it often is maligned by press and its problems That at least is the belief of Robert Holmes Laughlin who operates as the Thoroughbred Racing Pro ¬ tective Bureaus special representative in the Chicago district which covers the mid ¬ dle western states that includes Louisiana and Texas TexasBobs Bobs varied and interesting experiences in other fields than racing have given him a good comparative picture and an excellent perspective Even though his main task is to ferret out undesirables in racing and aid in a general cleanup job daily his con ¬ fidence in the sport and those associated with it mounts mountsYou You know I havent been with racing very long he related the other afternoon at the Chicago offices of the TRPB and when I accepted the position to aid Spence Spencer J Dray ton I myself wasnt quite certain it was a good move I had visited the tracks during my rather extensive travels and listened a lot to what I later discovered to be pure unadulterated ho ¬ kum I had heard of the usual fixed races and all sorts of inside information As a matter of fact one of my buddies actually paid good money to touts who claimed they were betting for the jockeys In a short period of time Bob has learned to scoff at such reports although he is honest to admit there are a number of parasites who must be sprayed with the TRPBs particular brand of DDT DDTStructure Structure Is 99 Sound SoundI I wouldnt hesitate to compare racings general honesty and scruples in business with that of the foremost banks of Ameri ¬ ca says Bob I would say like most other big businesses the structure is 99 per cent solid and sound but the 1 per cent always represents a threat of decay Just one buzzing flybynight owner carrying a ringer plot one sordid grub worming his way into a jockeys confidence one termite of a trainer trailing a tale of dope is one too many It is our business to rid the sport of this mite of corruption and I be ¬ lieve the progress made thus far has been astonishing astonishingOur Our job would be a great deal easier if patrons of the race courses would not pay attention to stories of betting coups fixing ringers etc We have found through our investigations that such reports are tre ¬ mendously magnified magnifiedOn On the other hand he adds weve found isolated cases of malpractice which have not been magnified enough enoughOne One of the faults of the American sport ¬ ing public is that it is gullible I have known of millionaire business men who gained their affluent stature by application of sound judgment in their dealings Yet they will accept information at a price from brokendown touts who wouldnt be quali ¬ fied to handle the most menial jobs in their employ employRacings Racings most difficult job is to educate the public to the truth Patrons should know that most of the owners trainers jockeys and others closely connected with the sport are striving their mightiest to succeed without resorting to anything that would endanger their livelihood livelihoodBecomes Becomes Bitter Once Burned BurnedIt It is the touts who are the main menace Theyll identify themselves as anyone from Ben Jones to Eddie Arcaro in order to take a gullible unsuspecting racing fan Once burned the racing fan becomes bitter Racing can be a great deal of good clean fun if approached from the same angle as a person going to a show showOne One of the most refreshing phases of our hundreds of investigations is the fact that we find so many professional racing men of high character Laughlin further related There have been many times when we have tracked every movement of suspects for weeks only to conclude finally that they are cleanthinking homeloving men who would in no manner harm the sport that furnishes their living Our func ¬ tion is to follow all possible leads and whenever possible nip actions of culprits in the bud budAs As an example there was a case at the New Orleans Fair Grounds Our agents were informed that a trainer was planning to inject a stimulant into a horse The in ¬ former was unusually reliable so we posted a pair of undercover men in the stabling area and watched all activity around the suspected barn Shortly before the horse was to go to the paddock the trainer en ¬ tered the horses stall along with a groom At the given signal two of our regular recognized agents charged the barn and found the trainer with a hypodermic nee ¬ dle containing a drug which obviously they were ready to administer in hand Both trainer and groom have been TUled off the turf as a consequence If there were any horsemen at New Orleans planning a similar stunt at the time you can bet your life that it was abandoned for there is nothing that will frighten a crook more quickly than one being apprehended vir ¬ tually in front of his eyes It is because we are able to unearth such isolated cases that the sport remains so comparatively clean cleanNative Native of Washington D C CRobert Robert Holmes Laughlin is 43 and a na ¬ tive of Washington D C althojugh at an early age upon the death of his father he shifted to Mitchell Ind He attended Pur ¬ due University and probably would have graduated as a qualified civil engineer had it not been for Dan Cupid the result be ¬ ing marriage After only two years of col ¬ lege and mainly through a correspondence course he became a certified public ac ¬ countant While working for his sheep ¬ skin in that field he was employed as a salesman at Chicagos swank depart ¬ ment store Marshall Field Co and there were other tasks such as toiling in a railroad station It was in 1934 that he decided to try for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and he was surprised and pleased when after passing necessary ex ¬ aminations he was called to Washington Eventually he became one of J Edgar Hoovers most valued employes Bob Jug into all sorts of embezzlement cases bank frauds and occasionally tried his hand at tailing such criminals as Dillinger Alvin Karpis Doc Barker Harry Campbell and their ilk all of whom are resting either six feet under or behind prison bars barsIt It was while working on some of the em ¬ bezzlement cases that I first heard so much of horse racing he said Invariably those involved pleaded losing on horses or other forms of gambling as their main reasons for stealing Of course the actual reasons in most cases was their association with women and wine But betting on horses blared through the headlines It seemed to ring so much better with the news editors and reporters reportersPerfection Perfection Is Goal GoalThen Then too I have investigated bucket shop operators who would put the most hardened race horse tout to shame Theyd take the last penny of widows with large families on the strength of cock and bull stories regarding valueless stocks stocksLaughlin Laughlin and his staff of Chicago district operatives have set their sights on nothing less than perfection in dealing with the sub ¬ versive element of the thoroughbred racing sport Extensive scientific research is being carried out in hope that horse identifica ¬ tion will be made positive in all cases through lip tattoo Fingerprinting of all racetrack employes owners trainers grooms and jockeys has made great prog ¬ ress and is to be further encouraged encouragedFingerprinting Fingerprinting is not intended to perse ¬ cute or prosecute However it stands as a sword over the head of anyone who has been in previous serious trouble with the law and it will behoove that party to re ¬ main on the straight and narrows 3hat is of course if he hopes to remain active in the sport sportOne One of the most pleasing aspects of the TRPB since its organization says Laugh ¬ lin is the growing relations between rac ¬ ing commissions and other policing bodies in ridding the turf of undesirables Be ¬ cause of this cooperation many cases have been solved that otherwise would remain mysteries
