PROFITS ON HORSES.

By Robert Saunders Dowst 'is. New York, William Morrow and Company, 1937. 134 p. $3.00.

Now that the Old Gold contest is ended, many people who participated may be interested in a profitable means of getting two dollars and the right name together. Even though one may not care to bet, Mr. Dowst's exposition of some of the phases of racing will be informing and interesting to anyone who attends the races, and especially if he goes but infrequently. The system—almost entirely a matter of looking at the record—is so logical and reasonable that one cannot help being impressed by it, and possibly being tempted to realize for himself some of the handsome profits that it claims to produce.

Mr. Dowst introduces a form of investment analysis into race betting, through considering past performance and earning prospects. To one with an analytical mind, and a flair for a "good thing," his method should prove as interesting a speculation as a low priced copper share. On the other hand, it is unlikely that it is the system originated by Earnest in "Three men on a horse," because it very definitely does not promise the handsome returns enjoyed by the happy syndicate of the play. But to all sports lovers and puzzlers, the system should be interesting; as a profitable means of getting the right name and money together, by cold analysis without having to rely on hunches,—as a sport to be pursued out-of-doors,—as an intellectual past-time requiring much less study than some of the picture puzzles,—and finally as a contest that never requires a long time to determine the winner.