. Belmont Park, Racetracks (Horse racing). York Turf Writers Association at Beefsteak Charlie's. "Unless racing gets immediate relief," he said, "it may be necessary to run only stakes races at a combined meeting of one month in the ; Widener, who made Hialeah the Taj Mahal of Winter racing, called on New York State to legalize the totalisator in use at his Florida track and abroad. He told his listeners: "I believe New York racing with the totalis- ator and a five per cent 'brokerage' would bring the State $10,000,000 annually. The State would take 75
. Belmont Park, Racetracks (Horse racing). York Turf Writers Association at Beefsteak Charlie's. "Unless racing gets immediate relief," he said, "it may be necessary to run only stakes races at a combined meeting of one month in the ; Widener, who made Hialeah the Taj Mahal of Winter racing, called on New York State to legalize the totalisator in use at his Florida track and abroad. He told his listeners: "I believe New York racing with the totalis- ator and a five per cent 'brokerage' would bring the State $10,000,000 annually. The State would take 75 per cent of the net profits, leaving the track 25 per cent. We have no desire to make money out of racing, only to keep it alive. "I would like to show the lawmakers that in 28 years at Belmont Park, the Westchester Racing Association has paid only three small dividends of less than six per cent and that we have spent $5,000,; In 1933, despite an admission price reduc- tion from $ to $, racing bumped bot- tom in New York. The purse average dipped from $1,000 to $600. And, taking heed of the crisis, Albany acted. The Twomey bill for legalization of mutuels was defeated, but a new bill yanked the punitive teeth from the law against bookmaking inside New York tracks. Its passage gave New York quasi-legal, open bookmaking for the first time since 1910. The measure went into effect in 1934. Now the New York tracks had a source of revenue denied them during the oral betting year (1913-1933). Each book was charged $100 a day and also bought admission tickets for all its help. This income went toward the fattening of purses, and the results were soon in evidence. The 1934 season saw into office a State Rac- ing Commission made up of Herbert Bayard Swope as chairman, John Hay Whitney, and John Sloan, with Marshall Cassidy as steward. Rid'ng Talent: The 1930's produced a fine crop of jockeys. Here are some of them outside the Belmont Park jockeys' quarters in 1935.
Size: 2001px × 1248px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookcollectionamericana, bookcontributorcolumbi
