NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART II 91 



that continues to interest, from year to year, and that were amusements 

 of different kinds to be dispensed with at fairs, harness racing would be 

 the last to go. I do not believe that this statement warrants any discus- 

 sion, or needs any proof, to the minds of the practical fair men in front of 

 me, so with your permission, I will start from the basis, that you wish it 

 retained. Harness racing for the past few years has been undergoing a 

 very great change. Until perhaps ten or fifteen years ago, the average 

 owner, when getting his stable ready for the campaign, laid out his route 

 along what might be termed, the "lines of least resistance." He planned 

 what is termed an "educational campaign," and this consisted in going 

 along as quietly and easily as possible, keeping his horse under cover, 

 and avoiding a record. 



Finally, when the horse was supposed to be ready to win, the plan was 

 to start him at a town where the betting was brisk, and win enough in one 

 race to pay, practically the entire summer's expenses and a substantial 

 profit. In those days, the entrance fees of 10% were lightly considered as 

 part of the incidentals, and if the "killing" came off as expected, there 

 was money enough to go around anyway. If it did not, the owner generally 

 had some business at home that could pay the bills, and he passed it off as 

 best he could and hoped for better luck next time. This was in the day 

 when a large percentage of the race meetings and fairs permitted betting, 

 and when harness horses were considered by their owners, primarily as 

 betting propositions, and incidentally as purse winners. Year by year, we 

 have seen laws enacted that put out of business the fairs, and race meet- 

 ings, where betting played a prominent part; so that now, out of the 1,050 

 towns and cities that gave harness races in 1918, about 1,000 of them oper- 

 ated without betting, while less than 50 continued it. This, naturally, 

 makes a complete change in the program of the average horse owner. He 

 is compelled to race for purses almost exclusively. No "educational cam- 

 paign" for him. He must get his horses ready to start as soon as pos- 

 sible, and try to win with them whenever they do start. There is no 

 "killing" to be pulled off after awhile. It is. a matter of purses entirely, 

 and when racing for purses, the expense account must be carefully looked 

 after. The entrance fee is one of the largest items of the expense ac- 

 count each week. On top of salaries, board, feed, drayage, freight or ex- 

 press charges, and other expenses, which have more than doubled in the 

 past ten years, the entrance fees have remained practically stationary, 

 while the purses offered by the state fairs of the middle west have grown 

 less. The average owner cannot stand the gaff only about one season. He 

 may love the sport, and be game and willing, but if the expense is con- 

 tinually larger than the receipts, he has to quit sooner or later. If he gets 

 disgusted and quits, as many an owner does every fall, and consigns his 

 horses to the winter auction, he finds there also, that a great change has 

 occurred. He finds that the harness horse that is not good enough to 

 win, has no home. Ten years ago, he would be bought as a road horse at 

 a price that would help a little, in reducing the soreness in the owner; but 

 not now. Henry Ford has appeared on the scene, and with his little tin 

 lizzie has driven the poor horse off the road. Consequently, a horse has no 

 value unless he can win. Very few can win, so the great majority sell 

 for little or nothing, and several more owners are lost to the sport. 



