BOOKMAKERS AS OWNERS

Otago Witness, Issue 2426, 12 September 1900, Page 40

BOOKMAKERS AS OWNERS

In the days that were passed, the one thing chat bookmakers kept a strict secret was their ownership accounts in horses. Naturally, too. The public didn't care to back horses with the man who ran them. Hence it came about that nobody but a select few knew anything of these partnerships. They existed, but the crowd, happy in their ignorance, went blindfolded to the slaughter. Nowadays the fact that a, horse is owned by a bookmaker makes no difference to the noble army of punters. They realise that the owner, whether a, bookmaker or anything eke, can only moke money out of his horse by winning. There is no ring money foi him to cut up with others of the fraternity. For thi<- we arc chiefly indebted to the decadence ox iintc-potl betting. There is no carcase for the eagles to grab at — no corpse to pollute the air. Something may also bo attributed to the presence of the totalieator. That, however, is not the sole cause of the imin'oveiiicnl. It doeo not account, for instance, for Oxenham's good name in Australia. He i- p bookmaker belonging to a bookmaking i oraiiry. In New Zealand we have bookm-\k-iiip ov.)iei> who also can be trusted. Ihere l- an example in connection with this New Zealand Cup. Record Reign is owned by the leading fielder in Auckland, Mr Dan M'Leod. He ha* also I'liE- Dclaval in the same race, nominated openly by himself. Circumstances cause him to fancy Record Reign, and at the Fame time we aic informed that the mare is off-colour, md may not run. In the olden days, such an intimation concerning horses that a bookmaker was supposed to be interested in would have led to all sorts of suspicion. We should have deemed it quite on the cards that Miss Delaval was for himself and Record Reig;n for the public. I don't say that Record Reign will win, and I don't soy that Miss Delaval will not start. It is too early to give positive opinions about these matter?. Btil Ido say, and in making the remark- I am sure of endorsement right through the colony, that Mr Dan M'Leod will try very hard to win the race, and that he will on the clay rely on the fitter of the pair, whichever it may prove to be,, and that the public will not Hbe hoodwinked by any cronk gallops or misleading market moves.. They are just as safe, in short, in backing Mr M'Leod's horses as they would be in backing anybody else's. This new stale of affairs is a source of great satisfaction to me, and to all who want to see the turf clean and honest. All betting is more or less foolish from a commercial point of view, but a man likes to do foolish things sometimes and with wholesome suiroundings, if he chooses to lose a bit that he can afford to lo*e over backing his faney — well, there's no harm done. That is my way of looking at the position. We have had another instance of a bookmaking owner going' straight at, the National and South Cantei-burv meetings. Milieu Curtis has been sending Proposal for the money every time, and the only trouble is that he cannot hit on the right time to back her. Eacli time she has won was when he had resolved to hold off after losing his money.