418 



IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



heat as the horses of the preceding are finishing. There are no long, tire- 

 some waits for the public, and the racing is finished for the day in time 

 for the people who wish to go home that they may reach there at a rea- 

 sonable hour. These are the features that make racing attractive at the 

 Iowa State Fair and fill to overflowing those great stands and bleachers. 



Des Moines, Iowa, August 29. — Iowa State Fair's meeting afforded the 

 first real practical test of the Harness Horse Association's plan of added 

 money and the following statistics compiled from the results of the con- 

 tests at Des Moines ought to be interesting. 



In the first place, it will be noticed that the lowest fourth money in any 

 class event was $70.80, which, less the starting fee of $15, netted the win- 

 ner of this fourth money $55.80, or almost as good as second money in a 

 $400 purse under the old 5 and 5 plan; while the fourth money in the 2:14 

 pace was $291, less an entrance fee of $45, which waS' better than first 

 money in a $600 purse under the old system. And everybody knows that 

 fourth money under the old order of things nets the winner nothing. The 

 following table tells its own story: 



Added by Entrance Total first Second Third Fourth 



Class Association Fees Paid Purse Horse Horse Horse Horse 



?:14 trot si, 500 $1,042 iJ2,542 $1,271 S635.50 $:J81.30 $254.20 



i:25 trot 600 153 753 376i^ 188.25 112.95 75.30 



2:17 pace 600 176 776 388 194.00 116.40 77.60 



2:16 trot 600 108 708 354 177.00 106.20 70.80 



2:10 trot 800 93 893 446% 223.25 133.95 89.30 



2:20 pace 600 221 821 410V> 205.25 123.15 82.10 



2:14 pace 1,500 1,410 2,910 1,455 727.50 436.50 291.00 



2:13 trot 6<Ki 125 725 362% 181.25 108.75 72.50 



2:09 pace 8(R1 145 945 472% 236.25 141.75 94. 5o 



2:20 trot 6») 153 753 376% 188.25 112.95 75.30 



2:12 pace 6o(. 85 6® 392% 196.25 117.75 78.50 



•2-year-old trot 30o 111 411 205% 102.75 61.65 41.10 



3-year-old pjce 300 54 354 354 others distanced 

 3-year-old trot 



futurity . 700 294.32 994.32 497 248.58 149.15 99.43 



3-vear-old pace 



futurity 300 . 126.39 426.39 Walk-over 



3-year-old pace W.B.fut'y 402.50 402.50 281% 120.75 



3-year-old trot W.B.fut'y 542.50 542.50 542% others distanced 



$10,400 $5,241.71 .$15,641.71 

 Futurity 

 payments.. 1,365.71 



$3,876.00 



Last year of the $18,300 program advertised $10,555 was entrance fees 

 and deductions. This year if we deduct the futurity payments', the total 

 entrance fees were only $3,876 and were all added to the purses, and had 

 the free-for-all filled the net total given by the association would have 

 been $11,200 as compared with $7,745 last year. 



In the 2:14 pace a similar purse advertised on the 5 per cent deduction 

 basis would amount to $3,525 and the entrance fee of $30 would be just a 

 little more than three-fourths of 1 per cent and the starting fee one-half of 

 1 per cent more. The same iS practically true of the 2:14 trot: hence these 

 two stakes were under the old system of a value of about $3,500 and the 

 entrance fee slightly over 1^4 per cent. 



The following table shows the value the purses would have been under 

 the 5 and 5 plan: 



2:14 trot, $3,065; 2:20 trot, $903.75; 2:25 trot, $903.75; 2:12 pace, $943.75; 

 2:17 pace, $932.50; two-year-old trot, $476.25; 2:16 trot, $847.50; three-year- 

 old pace, $405; 2:10 trot, $1,078.75; Iowa Futurity trot, $994.32; 2:20 pace, 

 $988.75; Iowa Futurity pace, $426.39; 2:14 pace, $3,525; W. B. Futurity pace, 

 $405.50; 2:13 trot, $906.25; W. B. Futurity trot. $542.50; 2:09 pace, $1,143.75. 



Secretary Flaws reports that he secured fifty new members to the Har- 

 ness Horse Association at Des Moines and that the membership now totals 

 over 700. 



Note — Additional press reports will be found under the Secretary's report 

 in Part II of this book. 



