University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Alberta Gambling Research Institute Alberta Gambling Research Institute 1992 Operating on the border : a history of the commercial promotion, moral suppression, & state regulation of the thoroughbred racing industry in Windsor, Ontario, 1884-1936 Waters, Gregory J. University of Windsor, Windsor, ON http://hdl.handle.net/1880/41371 Thesis Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca FACULTY OF GRADUATE S'CUDES AND RESEARCH UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR OPERATING ON THE BORDER: A History of the Commercial Promotion, Moral Suppression, & State Regulation of the Thoroughbred Racing Industry in Windsov, Ontario, 1884 to 1936. Gregory J. Waters A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research Through the Department of Kinesiology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Human Kinetics at the University of Windsor. Windsor, Ontario, Canada 1992 O 1992 Gregory J. Waters OPERATING ON THE BORDER: A History of the Commercial Promotion, Moral Suppression, & State Regulation of the Thoroughbred Racing Industry in Windsor, Ontario, 1884 to 1936. Gregory J. Waters Approved by: ,,& ,,& A. Metcalfe, ~inesiolo~~ Chair 1+.&u,; 4YL ,c/d V. raraschak K' esiology 9% n &A ABSTRACT This is a history of the commercial promotion, moral suppression, and state regulation of the thoroughbred racing industry in Windsor, Ontario, in the years 1884 to 1936. The central questions which structured the process of enquiry were, first, in what ways did promoters, reformers, and regulators influence the conduct necessary for the economic viability of thoroughbred racing at an incorporated racing association in Windsor, from 1884 to 1936, and second, in what ways was this influence on the operation of racing mediated by historically specific circumstances. Answers to these questions were eventually realized by engaging in a series of reciprocal sojourns between proposed questions, available evidence, and the appropriate concepts to be employed when answering. It was the structural legality of the conduct necessary for viability that was the fundamental point of contention around which the interests of promoters, reformers, and regulators collided and coalesced. For commercial promoters, it was revenue derived from the sale of bookmaking privileges, and after 1914 deducted as a percentage of a pari-mutuel pool, that provided the keystone underpinning the enterprise. Accordingly, the legality of racetrack gambling must be maintained; if it was not, capital was destroyed. For moral reformers, the widespread gambling necessary for the viability of the commercial racetrack industry was immoral because it epitomized the direct antithesis to the ethos of the protestant work ethic and was thought to be an impediment to the harmony of the working class family. For these reasons, it was believed that the the business of racetrack gambling (and by extension the viability of the industry) ought to be eradicated via prohibitive ... 111 legislation. For the state, the operation of racing was regulated because it concomitantly meant capital accumulation (which was positive) and widespread gambling (which was negative). As to the relationship between promoters, reformers, and regulators, the two former actors attempted to align themselves with the agenda of the latter. What is demonstrated in this history is that while particular structural circumstances were given, it was actors who were responsible for what was done within the bounds of those circumstances. Moreover, while it was promoters, reformers, and regulators who were responsible for operations at the tracks in Windsor, such agency was profoundly conditioned by their class positions in the historically specific circumstances in which they acted. These circumstances, it is argued, were characterized by contradictions inherent to capitalism. Accepting that these contradictions mediated the agency of all the actors involved, what is elucidated in this history is how specific actors conveyed appropriate representations, implemented strategic policies, and secured essential resources so as to realize their particular agendas. collected at the Public Archives of Canada and his help in gaining access to evidence at the Public Archives of Ontario. Without these sources this history could never have been generated. ABBREVIATIONS. WFDPA - Windsor Fairgrounds and Driving Park Association (1884-1913) WRA - Windsor Racing Association (1906-1913) WJC - Windsor Jockey Club (1913-1927) KJC - Kenilworth Jockey Club (1916-1934) WRA - Western Racing Association (1916-1933) DJC - Devonshire Jockey Club (1933-1936) OJC - Ontario Jockey Club (1881-1936) HJC - Hamilton Jockey Club NRA - Niagara Racing Association MJC - Montreal Jockey Club CJC - Canadian Jockey Club (1895-1908) CRA - Canadian Racing Association (1908-1932) ICRA - Incorporated Canadian Racing Association (1932-1936) TABLE OF CONTENTS. ABSTRACT ... iii. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... v. ABBREVIATIONS ... vi. Part I. CONVEYING DIMENSION: Confronting the "Poverty of Empiricism," b the "Politics of Theoy." Mapping the Epistemological Terrain: From Introspection to Exposition ... Conciliating Theoretical Impetus & Empirical Project: Defining Operations b Ascribing Interests ... An Impolite Narrative: A Caveat Respecting Periodisation .... Part 11. A PROBLEMATIC OF CLASS RULE: Encouraging Capital b Engendering Morality, 1884 to 1921. Colonial Legacy: One Law for the Rich b One Law for the Poor ... A Symbiotic Arrangement: Racing b Capital ... Necessities & Constraints: Generating Revenue b the Windsor Market ... Objective Markets & Subjective Boundaries: "Betting Places," "Better Places," b the Consolidation of Operations on the Border ... Disregarding Reputation: Enjoying the Structural Impotence of "Business" Reform ... Instigating Dissent: Rudimentary Contradictions of the Spacio-Temporal Context ... A Not So Impartial Umpire: Judging the Evils of Plebeian Punting 6 the Benefits of Canadian Breeding ... 71. Taking the Ring: The Respectability, Profitability, 6 Divisiveness of Pari-mutuel Wagering ... 87. Paying the Penalty for Prosperity: Unabated Rake-ofl, Mobilizing the Nation, 6 Post- War Reconstruction ... 101. Monopoly's Moment: The Rutherford Commission, Entrenching Privilege, 6 the End of an Era ... 110. Part 111. THE CONTINGENCY OF AGENCY & THE DETERMINISM OF STRUCTURE: Responding to the Private Handbook Operator, Economic Crisis, & Market Collapse, 'Y922 to 1936. "Puritan theocrat out of control:" Forcing An "uplift" Agenda 6 Forging A Partnership In Crime ... 126. Exceeding the Limits of Capital: State Revenue, Movement Fragmentation, 6 An Anti-Corporate Lobby ... 141. The Jockey Club Park Debate: Municipal Politics 6 the Rhetoric of Reform ... 159. A Final Conjuncture: Innovation Unlimited, the Great Depression, €2 the Inhosvitablv of Foreim Comvetition ... 173. Part IV. OPERATING ON THE BORDER: Legal Continuity & Market Peculiarity, 1884 to 1936. IV-i. Noting Significance: Considering Horseracing, History, & Hegemony ... 194. BIBLIOGRAPHY ... VITA AUCTORIS ... Part I. CONVEYING DIMENSIONS: Confronting the "Poverty of Empiricism" b the "Politics of Theory." :-i. Mapping the Epistemological Terrain: From Introspection to Exposition. What is documented and explained in this history is predicated on a particular orientation toward representing the past. For this reason it is mperative that the dimensions of this approach be conveyed. To acquaint eaders with the territories of ideation that undergird what is said in this istory entails mapping the epistemological terrain from out of which uestions were defined, evidence interpreted, and the narrative argued. daking this map is necessarily an act of private critique in which ubjectivities are confronted and made explicit. The intention of this ~trospectionis to facilitate a thorough exposition of the theoretical footing nd empirical edifice of this history. One aspect of the transition from introspection to exposition becomes lanifest in the section; Conciliating Theoretical Impetus & Empirical Project. onsidered here is what may be imagined to be this history's proverbial chilles' Heel; that conceptual space which if pierced is ostensibly liable to ndermine the significance of what has been said and done. With that icture in mind, imagine a large red target being painted around the most regnable point of the heel; and then imagine this spot being systematically rtified. Such painting and fortification are the objectives of the following letion. The aim of providing the target is not to guide the arrow, but instead I help illuminate fundamental points of departure that may be used to direct evaluation or inspire revision. The purpose of offering the protection is not to deceive, but instead to demonstrate that the vincibility of the heel must be attributed to an arrested conceptualization at a specific moment during the process of enquiry and that this vulnerability in no way contradicts the significance of this history. Accordingly, this painting and fortification involves; first, locating the theoretical impetus which gave rise to the research proposal, second, identifying the discrepancy between the proposed question and what can be answered, and finally, explaining the conceptual means by which this inadequate conceptualization was overcome. Although conciliation evolved in sporadic bouts of "violent abstraction" (coloured by a political radicalization), it was nevertheless grounded in interpretations/judgements