The closing of the tracks eventually resulted in a multimillion-dollar personal fortune for Tilles with the sale of the partnership's land holdings in St. Louis.

In 1910, Tilles and his partners at the Delmar Investment Company were arrested in the Western Union bucket shop scandal.

Federal agents raided Western Union and uncovered a secret and illegal telegraph and ticker service for bucket shops across the country.

On October 10, 1911, the case was dismissed in favor of Tilles' acquittal after the Anti-Bucket Shop Act was declared unconstitutional by Justice Wright of the district of Columbia Supreme Court.

[5][11][15] He was the middle child of Emanuel, Hannah, Carrie, as well as fellow philanthropist and businessman George Tilles, Sr.

[5] However, in 1886, Cap and his childhood friend, Sam Adler, moved to St. Louis, Missouri to begin their own tobacco and cigar business.

[20] From their monies earned through their Fort Smith businesses, as well as the St. Louis cigar stores, the two men formed a partnership, buying out the South Side Track in 1892, with the original intention of using the location as a baseball park.

[5] Within short time, the profitability of the night races allowed for the purchase and re-opening of the closed Madison Track in east St.

[7] This gave Tilles a strong position not only in horse racing in St. Louis but control over a firm stake in the gambling profits of the book makers.

[22] In the same year, the Big Three had bought out the St. Louis Fair and Jockey Club that had tried to destroy them for $700,000, with Tilles swiftly being named president of the once hostile group.

[20] In response to the slash and burn tactics of his competitors, Tilles kept the Western Jockey Club in place and aimed the same weapon used against him to now be used against other owners that tried to eliminate him from the game.

This included contracting jockeys and horses to only run on Western Turf sanctioned tracks or be ineligible from participating on any association owned facility.

Social activists within the progressive movement organized against sports gambling, perceiving the horse track experience as an intemperate vice of modern urban life.

aware of the financial danger, Tilles and other owners lobbied state legislators to reject Folk's agenda.

By March 1905, the Democrat controlled state House of Representatives voted to repeal the Breeders Act, which had legalized bookmaking in Missouri in 1896.

The repeal effectively abolished horse racing in Missouri, as bookmaking was the primary source of revenue for track owners.

[27] By the end of the first day of the law's enactment, Governor Folk declared over 1,800 persons had committed felonies by defying the Anti-Breeders Act.

The rhetoric quickly intensified from the state government, with Governor Folk issuing orders to Sheriff George Herpel of St. Louis County to immediately cease all betting at the Delmar race track.

[28] Enraged, Folk threatened to send in the state militia to forcibly shut down the gambling at the Delmar track with the use of armed soldiers.

[28] With the Sheriff refusing to act, St. Louis City police chief Kiely stepped in and raided the track with a large contingent of 35 policemen, shutting down Delmar.

[30] Tilles also sued the Pulitzer Prize Company for libel for running stories with the attorney general vilifying the C.A.T.

A direct consequence of the law was the swift dominance of baseball in the state, effectively replacing horse racing within just a few years.

[32] With his background in the stock and brokerage business, in acquiring the Delmar Investment Company, Tilles operated a bucket shop in the first decade of the 20th century.

[34] On June 10, 1910, Cap Tilles, Sam Adler, and Louis Cella, were among 23 wealthy men, indicted by a grand jury for taking part in the activities of an illegal bucket shop.

In 1924, in honor of his late father, Cap founded the Louis Tilles Children's Park in Fort Smith, Arkansas located at North 37th Street & Grand Avenue.

A major addition came in 1930, a World War I doughboy statue placed at the entrance of the park, in honor of the first citizen of Fort Smith killed in the service.

[5] Since 1926, the original mission of the foundation has been to financially assist deserving St. Louis area children in substantial need of educational or physical aide.

Many horse racing enthusiasts supported Tilles' development of state-of-the-art tracks and ability to circumvent progressive anti-gambling laws in the United States.

[18][22] For Tilles' part, he wanted to be remembered as a capitalist, a man that could overcome modest beginnings and being orphaned as a boy to become one of the wealthiest notables in St.

[8] In his later years, it was Tilles' hope that through his philanthropy he could help future generations of poor children emulate the possibilities of his own life.