on the 1943 $1,800 Daily Double?
From Aug 18, 1943 Harness Horse:
The day's harness horse sport was staged at the beautifully appointed Empire City track adjacent to Yonkers, New York and there was an unexpectedly large crowd in attendance, gas or no gas, the track being of easy access from the World's greatest Metropolis, whose Fifth Avenue has long been classed as the most famous street in the world. The attendance was given out as 12,407, but experienced judges rated the gathering at nearer twenty thousand. The old time horseman with his diamond horseshoe pin and broad hat, discussed the occasion with Cosmopolitan New York, and all decreed, that as a day, as well as from a sporting entertainment it had never been excelled. When one of the promoters of the harness meeting over the Empire City track, opined that the crowd, if the day was auspicious, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars would be wagered on the events with a large portion of the ''Handle'' being placed on the Hambletonian Stake, he was ridiculed unmercifully, today he is laughing at his critics, as there were 353,000 good American dollars wagered during the afternoon, with $48,710 bet on the first heat, $48.307 on the second heat and $35,235 on the third and final heat of the Hambletonian Stake.
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from Aug 25, 1943 Harness Horse:
Of the $18,148 wagered on the second dash, $8,483 was on the Reveler. But Reveler disappointed his backers by breaking at the outset and before Smith could get him trotting again, he was at least twenty lengths behind the field. He picked up considerable ground and heading in the stretch unleashed a bid that thrilled the onlookers, but was not strong enough to hoist the favorite into the money. The victor this time was Ben Hur, the Pennsylvania-owned Hollyrood Garnett being second and Siskilee, also from the Keystone State, finishing third. Reveler won the first in 2:051/2 and Ben Hur registered in 2:041/4.
This week's racing was highlighted with the customers by a daily-double paying $1,810 for $2.00 and the wonderful showing of the trotter Keep Goin' was the source of comment among horsemen. The heavy double occurred on Wednesday when Warren Hanover took the first at $24.30 and High Axworthy scored in the second at $62.20. Making a double score in the $1,000 Peekskill trot yesterday, Wesley Reynold's Keep Goin' defeated a highclass field in 2:041/4 and in the second at a mile and a sixteenth in 2:141/2.
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Monday of this week the mutuel handle was $64,896; Tuesday, $64,878; Wednesday, $74,386; Thursday, $75,711; yesterday's, $68,575 and today's, $104,576. The total for the week, $453,022, with the total for the twenty days, $1,275,868.
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from Sept 1, 1943 Harness Horse
The Empire City meeting has been particularly fortunate in the matter of weather, as out of a possible twenty-seven race days up to Saturday night, August 28, there have been twenty-five good days for racing.
In the twenty-five days racing, there has been $2,412,079 bet, for an average daily handle of $96,483. One Daily Double paid $732.20, which is no doubt a strong incentive to the New York public to come to the Empire City meeting and try for a Windfall such as this D. D. of over seven hundred dollars. When one learns the ropes for travelling to and from central New York City to the track, it is more easily reached than most any of the mile tracks over the country. Through trains leave the Grand Central station at 10:42 in the morning, and 3:42 in the afternoon, make one stop between the city and Mount Vernon, at a fare of 33 cents, to which you add 25 cents cab, or five cents street car fare. When you arrive at the track you find a modern well improved race plant with all modern conveniences for pleasure in comfort. In truth, it is one of the most delightful places to attend harness races there is in the country with the added attraction of being near the world's greatest metropolis, New York City.
