YORK GIMCRACK STAKES

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28767, 12 December 1958, Page 4

YORK GIMCRACK STAKES

Bookmaker Owns Winner (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON. Dec. 11. For the first time in history, the Gimcrack Stakes has been won by a bookmaker, Billy Hill—his horse was Be Careful—and according to tradition he was the guest of the Ancient Fraternitie of York Gimcracks at their traditional dinner, and was their chief speaker. In his speech, Hill referred to the contribution made to racing in Britain by bookmakers. He . said the few hundreds who operated on racecourses made a precarious living. “Competition, diminishing crowds, and heavy overheads are gradually reducing their members. Saturday now seems to be the only day on which they can make a fair-sized book. The average gross profit of the off-course bookmaker is not more than 2 per cent, per annum. He wins and he loses, but at the end of the year there are very few who finished up with more than they started.” R. F. Mortimer, a racing journalist, recalled that a gentleman in Australia had recently seen fit to criticise the moral standards in English racing, implying, but without caring to offer a word of evidence, that there was collusion between bookmaker and jockey.

“Of course,” he said, “there have always been a few black sheep in racing, and because the burden of proof is so difficult, there are doubtless one or two still. On the other hand, it does not require very profound study of turf history to realise that racing in this country is more honestly conducted than ever before.”