THE RACE-TRACKS OF AMERICA.

NZ Truth, Issue 12, 16 November 1907, Page 8

THE RACE-TRACKS OF AMERICA.

AS VIEWED BY AN AUSTRALIAN.

Barney Reynolds' Impressions.

Other Branches of Sport.

Readers of "Truth" have learnt ail there was to learn ol the fighting game m America, as seen by Scjuires's manager, Barney Reynolds. A keen observer like Reynolds, however, had eyes for more than one branch of sport during his . travels, and what he thinks of it all, and of American horse-racing m particular, I is worth digesting. "On the leading course m California," says Barney, . "they race 60 days at a stretch. Horses that are big and round at the commencement wind up the two months' racing thin, stale, and leg weary, some of them only shadows af their former self. The name of this course is Emeryville, and Emeryville to the Califorhians is what Flemington is to the Melbournian. It is what they call a 'dirt' track, with no grass on it, and as fast as lightning. HORSES ON THAT RINK are like a ped. on cinders, and possibly that accounts for some of their smashing time records. "Why ( they have so much racing there without a break is to centralise the sport as much as possible, for the good of all concerned. The scope of country is too great, and the journeys would he too long to have meetings everywhere. So they make Emeryville the headquarters of racing, and m this respect— though their actual racing methods are behind our own— -it surpasses even our own famous Fleminrston. Trainers, jockeys, and stable-hands there actual lv live on tho spot, within the enclosure formed by the running track. You will find corn merchants and farriers there, and even . hioarding'-houses, where the boys put up. They come there, and live there, for the racing season. Such is the town or village of Emeryville, surrounded on all sides by the big racing track. "Their biggest prize is the Burns Handicap, or 10,000 dollars : their average attendance at the event about '20,000. When I told some of the sports that m Melbourne we had a 50,000 dollar race, witnessed by a hundred thousand people, THOEY ONLY LAUGHED, and seemed to take it as another tall story from Australia. They must think we're awful. liars m these parts. "When I told ;th_cm of Carbine winning that same Melbourne Cup with lOst sft on his back m 3min 28 : \sec for the two miles, they reckoned that Flemington wanted measuring -v-gaio, and our handicappers pok-axing. They rarely give Hat racers a bk*; weight there. It *^ould be a ?o.ii: weight- for one of their steeplechasers, lOst 51b, but tbey would n?y(:v dream of loading up a flatraeer to such an extent.. Ybu'll see a flaUncer there win three or four times between Bst and Sst 7ft. It must be that they don't like blocking a good horse. Pie may win one day at Bst 21b, and have only lib more next time. Backers then lay odds on, more after the English than the Australian style of punting, occasionally going as far as 3, 4, or 5 to 1 on m a field of a dozen. They very often win," tdo, for the simple reason tfoat m many instances the odds-on chance is meeting practically the same horses as he beat previously. "No postponed meetings there. RAIN, SHINE, OR EARTHQUAKE, on they go. The race bills and the newspaper 'ads.' tell you that such and such a meeting wiii b'e^held on such and such a day, 'rain or une," and that settles it. "But their no-grass, . dirt. tracks m wet weather are something to write a book on. The bog-a-duck ground on a wet day makes up for all fast sroing on the dry days. At such* a time no bush track m Australia could compare with Emeryville. "m the general conduct of racing,'' continued Barney, "America is as far behind Australia as we arc behind America m other branches of sport. "The starting machine ! Why, they still use the old, 'one-tape' barrier, that we used when the new' method of starting was m its infancy. They have made no advance of any kind. Just the same old 'one-tape' affair that causes no end of bother. In a chat with one of the officials, I promised to send them over a workingmodel of the Higgins machine, used ou the Melbourne pony courses. They said they would BUY THE AMERICAN RIGHTS of it if it was satisfactory. So they'll buy all right. Just fancy comparing the two— a modern machine, and the old straight-up, one-tape affair ! "When I was done with the fighting business," continued Barney, "I put dn a good deal of time on thc American race tracks, at John Wren's re<|uest, m search o." a wrinkle or two for Australia. But I came back convinced that Australia had nothing to learn from America so far as racing was concerned. "As for betting I There's no open betting m 'Frisco ; that is, town betting. Whatever is done m this line is done 'under the lap,' and the pool rooms, which are really the 'Friscan equivalent of the Melbourne betting shops, are subiect to periodical raids hy the police. "Just across the bay, however, at a place called Sausilito, the town councillors, who are called 'supervisors,' granted licenses to two bookmakers, thus making betting vn that particular locality, and with those two bookmakers, permissible. So THE BIG FERRY BOATS brought shoals of people to Sausilito, and there they could get betting to their hearts' content, until the State Attorney-General intervened quite recently, and declared that the 'supervisors' had no power to grant these licenses. Thc next development was a raid on tbe premises of the two bookies, who replied by se.rvine a writ for the stay of proceedings on the State Attorney, and there the matter rests. It will be a big fight both ways, and, like much of the American litigation, it may be strung cut over a year or two.. But m the

meantime the two bookies ro on raking m the dollars "Jn the adjoining State, the State of Nevada— 'gambling rooms are perfectly legal, and are licensed by the authorities, just the same as hotels, for instance. And don't run away with the idea that anyone can get a gambling-room license. On the contrary, he must be of good personal character, strong financially, and have substantial guarantors. One of the clauses m his license prevents him from having more than 10 per cent, m his favor at ANY GAME HE PUTS DOWN, and for any cheating by himself or his assistants the law says 10 years m a State prison. The whole thing lis worked under suoh an excellent system that a chump can go m there and rely upon having a fair deal. "The jockeys ! Yes, they all adopt the crouch. You never see a straight up jockey there nowadays. They're good horsemen, too, which you hardly need telling, after all their successes m England. "Some of the trainers were asking after Teddy Turner, the Melbourne light-weight, who was doing riding work there some time ago, and would probably have settled there only for the V.R.C. declining to give him a clean sheet. They spoke well of Turner as a horseman, and seemed to think he would have made his mark there. The American trainers, like the io"Veys, are sharp, shrewd fellows, who know every turn m the game. "Baseball ! Yes. it's worth watching as the Yanks play it ; and the cycling races at the velodrome, about four nights weekly. are also a big attraction. But the BASEBALL BANGS EVERYTHING. The way those professional players take the ball, and return it, is marvellous, Phil Hyams, myself, and a couple of other Australians went to L see some of the matches, and they simply astounded us. The pace at which some of those fellows 'rock' the ball m is so great that m the wire-netting, 20 yards away, you can find dents as big as your fist. Some of the best professional players get large salaries, as much as £1000 occasionally, for the season. And they have to be always on their best behaviour, too. To prevent any funny business, there are men specially told ofi by Ihe club to keep their records, ami to report anything of a careless or doubtful nature. Any slovenly play will count against them at the ?,wi o f a season whilst a good record me_t:>s a greater ..demand for one's services, and more mu.*cv. l( r?'!<?<>.ip ; ii to r'ie Yankees is like cri.cl:e< m this country. It's their national game. The** don't ask much about Australian baseball ; m fact, they ONLY GIVE US CREDIT for a couple of things, viz., 'sculling and swimming. They say we. turn out some good men, both on the water and m it, and they have gone so far as to admit that a couple of Australian feminine singers were topnotchers. Beyond that, however, they decline to budge an inch m comparing the sporting and artistic talent of the two countries. "Oh ! about the Velodrome, to see which I had to go down from San Francisco to Salt Lake City. Just imagine a big basin, more oval than round, shaped something like a bak-ing-dish, about 220 .yards m circumference, and you have the Velodrome. The . sides are so steep that you would wonder how the cyclists could st ; **■'•: there. You'd think they were hanging on by their eye-lashes. It's the pace they go, of course, that preserves their equilibrium. They have a level floor to begin on, and as the speed increases they work up. The whirring sound of a rae«» at the Velodrome is somewhat different from what we have been used to m Australia. This is accounted for by the track being made of battens placed half an incn or so apart. The rushing, of the machines over these blank spaces make the noise. I went to see another Velodrome that is BUILT OVER THE SEA on huge piles, and this a very popular resort on account of the 'ocr a biow,' that is always to be got there. "I'had a commission to bring a team of crack cyclists to Austria I could get Kr- *--**, but as his continental engagements stood m the way, and meant more money to him. Kramer was out of the qu^tion. Young Clarke, the Australian, was looked upon there at the coming champion. He has already beaten Ivor Lawson m scratch -"atches. It is a great pity Kramer couldn't be induced to come to Australia.