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MINOR TURF REFORM In advocitiag advocating certain measures of reform the Morning Telegraph very correctly points out that western tracks are far in advance of those near New York in features designed to add to rhc rc comfort a id convenience of patrons of the turf and for the more prompt and easy dispatch of the details of racing Morning Telegraphs article is reproduced here with the suggestion that what it says in regard to doping and lax supervision of jockeys applies also to more than ono western track as well as to the eastern tracks For some time past the stewaids stewards of the Jockey Club have contemplated a closer super ¬ vision of the relations between apprentice jock ¬ eys eyes and their employers So far the matter has not passed much beyond the primary stages of informal discussion but a representative of The Morning Telegraph was told yesterday that the stewards recognized the necessity of action and that they would probably formulate some rule governing apprentices before the season began The relations of apprentices with owners to whom they become indentured has been a con ¬ stant stat source of annoyance Boys run away and then some owners refuse to pay them the stipu stipule ¬ lated elated wages due them according to their con ¬ tracts Many of these cases are taken into court for final adjudication The Jockey Club desires to avoid this It is anxious to provide safeguards which will protect both apprentices and owners ownersIt owners It is not improbable that the stewards may decide to take entire charge of these contracts and at the same time adopt some rule which will discipline both apprentice and owner in case of a violation of contract It is a rather difficult matter to handle and that is no doubt tho thou reason why the stewards desire to thor ¬ oughly roughly consider the proposition from every point of view before announcing decisive action actionWhie nationwide Whie White the stewards arc thus seeking to im ¬ prove racing for the coming season they might profitably review a number of features of im ¬ portance prance to the public These relate mainly to the details of track management in which it is generally conceded the east is far behind the west westIn Weston In the west the jockey board on which the names of the jockeys in each race are displayed and the bulletin board indicating the three placed horses are modern and up to date They can be manipulated easily and rapidly and re ¬ quire the services of one man instead of two or three as at the big tracks here They are as much an improvement over the antediluvian system in vogue in the east as a trolley car is over an oldfashioned olfaction stage coach coachThe coach The plan of calling owners and jockeys up ¬ stairs into the stewards stand here is also at variance with the procedure in the west There the stewards go down stairs to an inclosure enclosure underneath the stand and question owners and jockeys in a way that does not attract to them tiie tie notice of everybody on the race track trackIn tracking In themselves these are perhaps matters of no really great concern yet all the small de ¬ tails of turf government when taken together affect the convenience and the financial inter ¬ ests bests of the public who support racing Some needed reforms however are of vital conse cone consequence consequenceFor consequence For example during the winter several prominent trainers have asserted that the dope was freely used last season and in some leading stables too Whether these assertions were based on ascertainable facts The Morning Telegraph is unable to state It is however certain that on many occasions last year horses ran as though they had been treated with speedproducing seedpod injections That is a gross imposition because horses which become accustomed to these stimulants will never perform well unless so treated and their use gives designing owners and trainers a tremendous advantage over the public publicThe public The lax supervision of jockeys in the pad ¬ dock ought also to be remedied It was notori motor ¬ ous onus last season that emissaries from the betting ring had far too many privileges They were permitted to question jockeys at the jockey room and in fact they had every opportunity to acquire such information as might be desir desire ¬ able from the jockeys without contravening the rules already in force
