To the Dogs

Like cod into a seine, some 20,000 panting citizens swarm every evening into a converted cyclodrome at Boston's Revere Beach. They are not bothered by the OPA ban on pleasure driving: Revere can be reached by Boston's elevated system, streetcar lines and a dozen bus routes from North Shore towns. Nor are they bothered by the knowledge that they may go home $10 or $20 poorer. They are hungry dog fans. And the old cyclodrome, now named Wonderland, is a greyhound track.

Wonderland is the Saratoga of U.S. dog tracks. Compared to London's famed White City track, where crowds of 90,000 are not uncommon, it is only a pup. But of America's 40-odd legalized courses, Wonderland is by far the biggest and most profitable. Its pari-mutuel handle for one night often exceeds the totals of Florida's nine tracks. Last summer, in 100 race nights, nearly $20,000,000 was bet at Wonderland.

Most U.S. dog tracks have a bad smell. Wonderland was no exception. Originally backed by Al Capone interests who knew how to get along with politicians, the track started out as a wonderful racket. Today, with respectable Boston names on its board of directors and a totalizator to compute and publicly quote the odds, there is no tampering with greyhounds, no back-room rigging of the payoff.

But Bay State politicians, sitting on what non-dog fans sometimes call Beagle Hill, permit the owners of dog tracks to take 15% of their customers' betting handle (horse parks get only 10%).* That means that 15% of every dollar wagered is skimmed off the top before the winners get their share.

Wonderland's customers seem not to care. The admission price is cheap (25-c-), the atmosphere breezy, the races honest. Moreover, when a Bostonian "goes to the dogs," he knows he is salting away something for somebody's (if not his own) old age. The State of Massachusetts uses its dog-track "take" for its Old Age Pension Fund.

With good purses ($200 to $5,000) Wonderland attracts the fastest U.S. racing dogs. Fastest is Never Roll, a four-year-old owned by H. B. Diamond of St. Petersburg, Fla. Last summer at Wonderland, Never Roll won 17 of 24 races, broke four world's records at distances from 330 to 770 yards. Boston's dog fans expect even greater things of Never Roll this year. A few weeks ago, during a schooling race, he ran 100 yards in 5.275 seconds. World's record for man is 9.4.

*Neither may keep the whole amount. A minimum of 3 1/2% of the handle is turned over to the State.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.