Long Story

A month ago, bookmakers were embarrassed when a horse named Linden Tree won a race at Agua Caliente at the surprisingly long odds of 9 to 1. They suspected that someone had "tampered" with the parimutuel betting machines-- i. e., bet a large amount on other horses in the race at the last minute, to make the odds on Linden Tree go up. Three days later, Baron Long, hotelman and part-owner of the Agua Caliente track, admitted he had done the tampering. He said he had done it for a joke, to revenge himself on bookmakers who had played the same joke on him (TIME, Jan. 18).

Although the amount of money which he won ($6.200) was small enough to make the Long story credible, Agua Caliente stewards did not take the matter lightly. They suspended Baron Long, banned his horses at Agua Caliente. Last week, disgusted, he said he would quit racing "forever." Up for sale were the Long racehorses, his Rancho Valle de las Viejas, most pretentious stud farm on the Pacific Coast, valued at $500,000.

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