ABOUT DONCASTER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 30, 30 October 1907, Page 9

ABOUT DONCASTER.

HOW THE CLASSIC MEETING IS RUN. RATEPAYERS BENEFIT.

(By "Arbitrator.")

While on the' staff of the New Zealand "Referee," it fell to my lot to write something about those two famous courses, Epsom ami Ascot, and, now that the Sc. Legcr is over, it may not be out of place to say a fenwords about Doncaster's no loss famous town moor. Well do I recollect my first visit to Doncaster. It was in 1839,' the year that Donovan won. I was at sonool at v-he time, and was supposed to have intumcd to Hav- ; row tho previous day, but in effect went to Doncastor. I won a few pounds, but bitterly regretted my escapade;on.returning to headquarters. According to that little known but valuable book, "Brook's Gazeteer," Doncaster, iii 1811 had a population of G935. Going on tho same authority tho town "had 'a castle now in■ .ruins," and "manufactures stockings, waistcoats, - iand gloves." ''Tho houses," the cheery compiler proceeds, "are well built, and many genteel families resido hero,: ; who have their assemblies, concerts, etc." • That is all—no mention of tho horso-. racing; It might be supposed that the worthy compiler was an opponent of racing, and so designedly left out mention of, the proceedings on the Moor in case the "many genteel families" should take alarm. However, lator oh, in this same book, when referring to Nowniarkot, Brooks, M,D.. says:—"lt is the most '•elebrated place" in England for horse rar"-s, and hero Charles 11. built- him ahouse' •"■'r the sake of this diversion." It would, therefore, seem, that '■' the worthy Brooks-was not altogether averse, to racing, and the conclusion is irresistible that in 1810 horse-racing on Doncaster Towiv Moor was of no general importance..

To-day all this is changed, and the "town on tho Don, seated 37 miles out of York," lias a population of 28,924, and fully 20,000 of that number are pike-liko each September. In'lSls the town was governed by a Mayor,' now it is governed by a-.Mayor and Corporation, who have; annexed the races, which have been managed.not essentially for the betterment of sport.but practically for. the extinction of rates. " "Tho ratepayer's head," wrote a cynical sporting' scribe last year, "pops up even in the handicaps." Indeed it pops nj. in appertaining to the races, and atirace time it is a~recognised thing that the Corporation Tramwaj-s may carry twice their recognised complement of.. passengers, and instead of the police preventiiiG: crushing, they will cheerfully assist in >thc packing. For every passengor in race hours means'-an-other' 6d. off tho rates. ':',-'•'■ :

y REEDY DONCASTRIANS. '■.; "As tho husband, so the wife is," wrote thc.Jate iLora. Tounyson., And as the Corporation, so the people the Corporation govern. In Leger week it ho true-born Doncastrians. improve on tho, practice of the Hol!.andoi;s—the Doncastrians give nothing ,and grab all. Unlike the Dutch, they do not ask —they grab. Extortion on .every hand reached such unparalleled impudence that the big railway companies tapped a new .sourco of revenue by running specials.to oven. far distant cities,. and, provided you dccliiio to resort to somo of the commoner hotels, it is in every way more comfortable and satisfactory to make Manchester 3'pur headquarters and travel to and fro by the Great Con-, tral specials. . Luckily for owners, tho stewards of the' Jockey Club now keep an eye on tho Munieiparßace-Committee, one of whose latest exploits Was to rail-in'the best portion of •the" far side of the course, which had-al-ways been free,. for the enrichment of the town's colfors. There was a sort of protest at this act'jof'enclosure', but the protestors were waived ; off. by the balance-sheet. In Doncastcr during .race week; money is money, and as long as it has thc,truq ring it has no taint. ■ Even now the. corporate fathers are not satisfied, for just boforc the St. Leger, lately decided, they again determined to raise tho prices of admission to the cheaper stands—so that : they shall no ■ longer be cheap.' Thackeray's footman hated anything that was low. The Doncastrians havo during raco week a no less rooted' objection to anything smacking of cheapness. , , , . JOCKEY CLUB ASSERTS, ITSELF.

■-.-■ The stewards of the Jockey..Club do many tilings that provoke criticism.. > For instaiico, they allow bookmakers to own ; horses, than which, nothing-could ,be more objectionable. Howevor, as guardian of owners' interests . they are now rather wideawake,': and-also a trilio insistent. , They have, noticed, how the Corporation and '.'.the . townsmen■■' squeezed everybody to tho uttermost farthing, and they have in turn'squeezed. Up to and including the present year; tho Race. Com-miit't'eop-which is part of tho Corporationhave never contributed a brass; farthing to the -St. Leger!. . Tho conditions for the last St. Loger read:—

"Tho St..;Legor Stakes, of 25 sovs. each, '. ' for then ;three-year-olds;. entire colts ,', 9st., fillies Bst.,'lllbs.; owner of, the . second horse to receive 300,sovs.,.and ;'',,. of the, third 100 sovs. out of the stake." . • ~.*. , ■ As only. 193 horses,were entered on September 13, 1901, tho sum availablo for owners was merely £4,825, which means that the winner took; £4',405, ■ the second £300, and the third £100—each, of course, having paid in £25. For far too many.years have tho representatives of the Doncaster ratepayers run the St. Legor for. nothing, .and many have thought that the Jockey Club, have acquiesced in this arrangement too long. The plea pf the defenders of tho purse of tho ratepayer —whose head, .as said above, seems to pop up oven in the handicaps;—has been poverty. Since, however, His Majesty the King has made,annual pilgrimage north to the races, the takings all round have been immeasurably increased, land in 190G the Race Committee were called upon to alter their . : Legef arrangements. Thus the clauses of tho Doncaster Classic of 1908 read: ' ."The St. Leger 1 Stakes of 6500 sovs., by subscription of, 50 sovs. each, half • forfeit, or 1 5 sovs; only if declared by . the last; Tuesday in' March, 1907; for entire'coics and fillies foaled in 1905: . ' colts 9st.', fillies Bst. lllbs.; tho nominator of the winner to receive 500 sovs. out of the race; if not sufficient surplus is obtained from subscriptions ; to give tho second at least 100 sovs. •' and the third at least 200 sovs., the difference to be made up by the race . fund."

This means that .if the nominator of tho winner still owns tho horso he takes £6500 and a further £600 will have to be found for the owners of the second and third. Thus the Race Committee are responsible for £7100,, and against this they take £5 for each horse entered and struck out by the. time named; £25 for each horse entered, loft in, but not a starter; and £50 for each starter. They may escape paving anything, but there is a liability on them' to pay. All round the stewards of the Jockey Club have insisted on a bracing.up of the Doncastor programme. . To the Champagne Stakes 1000 sovs. instead of 500 has to bo added; the Portland Plate has been raised from 500 to 800, tho Doncaster Cup Ims gone up/from 100 to 1000 sovs.; and the Great Yorkshire Handicap from 1,000 to 1300 sovs. Tho next move of the stewards Will probably be in the, direction of raising tho Great Yorkshire to 1500 ,and the Portland Plato to 1000 sovs. The alterations will only hicana button off the ratepayers' boots and could not possibly, on the scoro of necessity, reduce them to sandals. ' >

The state.of affairs that'would have prevailed at Doncaster. had notthc stewards of the Jockey Club demanded a loosening of the pursestrings, can be discovered by turning to the programme.of 1890, 11 year selected because then all-round competition lor owners' nominations was keen. In fact, 1890 was one of the biggest years in turf history. Manchester was running its Lancashire Plate of 11,000 sovs. .Kempton, at its first summer meeting, had a 2000 sovs. handicap, a Grand Two-Year-Old Stakes of 1500 sovs., and a Victoria Cup of 500 sovs., and nt its spring gathering the Two-Ycar-Old Stakes of 2400 sovs...and tho Jubilee of 3000 sovs. I mention these facts to, show that tho 1890 days were not the days of these facts to show that the 1890 days' were not the days of small, but rather the (lays of great tilings.. The spirit of .enterprise dominated the Turf. That spirit, however, did not free the Race Committee at Doncaster. They gave nothing to tho St. Leger, the Grand Yorkshire of 1000 sovs. only cost them £645, a paltry £2SO wont to the Champagne 1 Stakes, and as for the Doncaster Cup—well, the "pot" was of the value of 300 sovs.,

and 100 sovs. were graciously added. The sweepstakes and a third of the added hundred went to the second and third, .with the consequence that the owner of Tyrant, the Doncaster Cup winner of 1890, was benefited to exactly the extent of £290. That is to say, ho was minus his sweepstakes, receiving in place-of the "tenner" he had had to pay a "pot" of the advertised value of 300 sovs. And, as if tin's were not sufficient to satisfy this extortionate Race Committee, the plentifully-bestrewn Selling Plates yielded piolits respectively of £100; £77 105.,' £315, £230 v £205, £50, and £80—in all. £1057 10s. Those days are ended, and should never have been allowed to exist. Une wonders the Stewards of the Jockey Club.of that year— the Earl of March, Prince Soltykoff, and Mr. Houldworth—did ( not, as custodians tor owners, blush when the accounts reached them. However, the owner was then merely a pawn on the Doncaster ratepayers' chessboard. He has now become' a more important' figure in the game. , -"A last point, and I have finished. One of the features of - the Doncaster September -meeting is the sales, to attend which you arc charged one shilling for a catalogue and four shillings for the four days. 'The money, i know, goes to charity, but the charge',is characteristic of Doncaster, where they would cliiirgc you for a breath of fresh air," if anv .ware to be obtained during race week. "j.. notico that this same objectionable practice is to be put in practice: at Cliristchurch at ,thc yearly sales during Cup week, and sincerely trust that Pync and Co. will see their way to abolish the charge. Some of the' frequenters, of the sale paddocks at Doncaster in 1906 must now wish they had never walked that way, as nineteen horses who were sold for. prices aggregating 30,350 guineas had up to September, 8 last only earned £1330 in stakes. I give) the full list'below :—

, Urgently let mo advise all colonials going home to beware of. Doncaster. >.

Price. Times. WinHorse. Gns. run. nines. Avaminta ... ... ... 350(1 1 Merely ... 2500 '■ ' — — Little Goose 2000 C ,,£195 Rambling Rector 200(1 ,., 3 . — Lady's Maid 1850 — — Red Fox .' ... 1700 — — Gamp Lass 1000 2 — St. Orodoux ... 100fl (5 ■ — Flitav.-ay 1500 5 — Attain 1500 —. — Gnllus ...• 1500 — _ Park'Ronald ..'. ... 1300 2 .£1135 Tierce colt 1300 ' — ' — Morjjiana ' ... 1150 '3 — Mino filly ... 1150 2 — Gordon Hrook 1100 2 — Mossdale 1050 ■ 1 — Landlord ... 1050 — — Rodney ... . ... ... 1000 - - Total ...30,350 33 .£1300