56 TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II. 



sary for me to tell you there are more harness races conducted on the 

 fair grounds of the United States than there are at what is known 

 as race meetings. 



The harness horse and the fairs have grown up together. Originally, 

 a great many years ago, perhaps farther back than many of us can 

 remember, the fairs had no harness racing. A number of manufacturers 

 of agricultural machinery were very anxious to get their products before 

 the farmers at the fairs and especially what were then known as state 

 fairs, but were very different from what they are today, so they bought 

 harness horses and put on the races in order to attract the people to the 

 fair grounds so they could show them their machinery, and from this 

 beginning the harness horse and the fair have become inseparable. 

 Harness racing is the one contest on your fair grounds where everybody 

 can see who is the winner. In the judging of live stock and all other 

 matters only those who are thoroughly initiated into that part of the 

 fair can point out the reason why one animal has won over another. 



The amount of money that you can afford to give for harness racing 

 depends to a certain extent upon the money that harness racing can 

 put in your treasury. Harness racing must be your principal attraction 

 because you have spent your money in building a track and building an 

 amphitheater from which you expect to derive a revenue. Those who 

 give night shows now have the added revenue from the night show, but 

 originally the amphitheater was built and the money expended to give 

 harness races. The way you can overcrowd your amphitheater and make 

 inroads on your treasury by having to build a larger one is to give harness 

 races that are real races. 



In the state of Iowa today most of the purses are for added money, 

 which is a very good thing. There are some things about this added 

 money proposition that sometimes work a hardship on the fair asso- 

 ciation. All the entrance fees that are supposed to be received by the 

 secretary are supposed to be added to the purse. It so happens that 

 secretaries do take entries that are not accompanied by the entrance fee, 

 and possibly these horses do not start and consequently the secretary 

 has a hard time to explain to his board of directors how it comes he 

 paid out more than the amount of the purse itself and the amount re- 

 ceived. To obviate this I would suggest you place this on your entry 

 blanks and in your advertisements, that all entry and starting fees re- 

 ceived be added to the purse. This gives you a little leeway. 



You should do everything you can to encourage men to come to your 

 tracft and races. You should give them clean stalls and show them every 

 courtesy. On the other hand you should conduct your races absolutely 

 and strictly in accordance with the rules. Don't let any man come in 

 on your ground and because his race is scheduled for the last day get 

 you to change the program and put the race on the first day so he 

 can get through with his work and loaf the rest of the week. It is very 

 easy for a good talker to get the secretary to do this. Don't do this. 

 It makes endless trouble and is not a square deal for every other man 

 on the ground and in the race. Stick to your program as far as pos- 

 sible. Whenever you deviate from the rules, if you are trying to be 



