Stakes were high during local 1800s sports competitions
$8,000 reportedly wagered on a single rowing race on Chemong Lake between Peterborough athletes Jack Mercier and J.E. McIntyre
Over the many years there have been races down George Street, usually involving multi-horsepower vehicles that have ended up in court.
But there was one race, involving only two horsepower that beat them all.
In 1858 a Mr. Baxter bet local hotel owner Leon Caisse that the horse owned by Mr. Beattie could beat a horse owned by Mr. Fallis.
Someone named Ross was to hold the bets. There was no horse racing track in Peterborough in those days so the race was to be held through the unpaved main street of the town. Eight distinguished citizens, the Review newspaper reported, were chosen to judge which horse won. Spectators lined the street.
Fallis’ horse clearly won both heats. When Caisse claimed the money, Baxter disagreed and took the case to court. Only four of the distinguished citizens attended the trial to testify that the Fallis horse had indeed won. The judge in an unprecedented ruling awarded the bet to Baxter, “because the majority of the citizen-judges did not testify in favour of Caisse’s wager.”
Ross was ordered to give the money to Baxter.
An editorial in the Review summed up the case.
“(This verdict) may end the foolish practice of taking wagers upon anything and everything that the excitement of the moment may propose.”
Gambling definitely was not deterred by the strange verdict. In fact the newspapers of the day started reporting odds on sporting events. The laws of the era did not help either. One law made it legal to bet on a horse race if one of the betters owned one of the horses. That meant essentially anyone could bet. Open wagering was also condoned on lacrosse, baseball, hockey, cycling and even billiards.
So much cash was often riding on a game that a questionable call by an official would result in irate fans storming the field to get at him. Incidents of lacrosse referees or baseball umpires running for their lives were often reported.
One story told of $8,000 being wagered on a single rowing race on Chemong Lake between Peterborough’s Jack Mercier and J.E. McIntyre.
The big money of the day ended up “staking” athletes. Residents of Peterborough apparently raised $1,500 to help stake champion rower Jake Gaudaur of Orillia to a single sculls match race for $5,000 against an English champion. Those contributing got a piece of the prize money. Gaudaur was such an overwhelming favourite it was considered a sure bet. That was not always the case.
This staking gave rise to a new element of sleaze called the promoter. These guys raised the stakes, with newspaper ads and personal contacts, for athletes entering events. They then took their percentage off the top.
Most of the promoted events were above board and for nominal amounts. For example, in 1891 a promoter ran this ad in the Peterborough Examiner; “M. Bird of Peterborough (a swift miler who had an excellent time of 4:47 in 1884) challenges any man from Campbellford or Hastings to a race from a half to 10 miles for $25 a side.”
But the opportunity was there for the unscrupulous characters and one in 1898 burned the residents of Peterborough.
A short-time resident of Peterborough, one Thomas Doyle promoted himself for a stake in a wrestling match in Toronto. People staked him to $1,000 and wagered many more dollars on him.
Minutes before the bout he became mysteriously ill and had to withdraw. Some local residents that had travelled to Toronto suspected he was poisoned in a big-city conspiracy. Doyle disappeared immediately. He surfaced a year later when he was arrested in New York for theft.