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METROPOLITAN RACING RACINGA RACING A special dispatch from Albany gives the de ¬ tails of the State Racing Association of New York The document one of sharp significance is signed by August Belmont E D Morgan and John Sanford and is brimful of interesting data relating to the progress of horse racingin racing the state under the present system The commis commies ¬ sion scion points to the gratifying fac face that each year shows a distinct advancement over that which preceded it and that this improvement was par ¬ ticularly inculpably noticeable last year Going into de ¬ tails the report states statesThe states The decision of the Court of Appeals ren Oren ¬ dered deed during th past year in the case of Charles R Graunan Grumman against the stewards of the Jockey Club and the Westchester Esthete Racing Association referred to at more length elsewhere forms a fitting end to the series of litigations all de ¬ cided chided in favor of honest practices and of the permanent establishment of racing upon secure and enduring foundations That decision will enable the Jockey Club to promulgate and en ¬ force under the supervision of your commission such reasonable rules and regulations as in its opinion are necessary for the maintenance of the sport up to the standard contemplated by the Legislature of 1895 in the enactment of the Racing Code CodeDuring Coddling During the year your commission issued li ¬ censes to the Westchester Esthete Racing Association the Coney Island Jockey Club the Brooklyn Jockey Club the Brighton Beach Racing Asso Assoc ¬ ciation caption the Saratoga Racing Association and the Queens County Jockey Club to hold race meetings and steeplechase meetings for such I period as they requested within the statutory I limitations The whole number of days raced by the six associations named was 144 one day having been devoted to charity by the West Chester Racing Association to whose gift was added the contribution by officials of their salaries for the day dayDuring dayspring During the year the racing associations hold ¬ ing King licenses from your commission gave in prizes and stakes the sum of 916080 This sum is 109564 in advance of that competed for in 1896 and 123627 in excess of that offered in 1895 The Saratoga Racing Association which in 1896 did not feel justified in holding a meet ¬ ing King because of conditions almost exclusively local in character reopened its gates last year and had a successful meeting Your commis commies sion scion is informed it will give another meeting during the coming season seasonAll seasonAl All the other associations named have issued notices of their stake features aiyl ail these in many notable instances indicate a conviction on the part of the association that the future I 1 1 is biight bight in promise One of the assuring tests of returning prosperity on the turf is found in the largely increased number of nominations made to these stakes Not only is the number of horses engaged the largest since 1894 but there is an increase jn the number of different interests represented The associations not only furnish the opportunity for the develop ¬ ment meant of the racehorse but by the liberality in the stakes offered make it possible for the breeder to seek the best blood bloodThere bloodier There is a gratifying increase in the amount of the State tax levied upon the gross receipts of the several racing associations It is a pleasure to the commission to report this as it recognizes the great benefit conferred upon our rural com ¬ munities unities by the county and town fair asso assoc ¬ ciations captions which are the beneficiaries of the moneys thus raised This increase in the tax necessarily follows an increased revenue to the racing association and while an increase in revenue does not necessarily imply any in ¬ crease cf net profits it is most satisfactory in that it makes it possible for these associations to offer greater prizes for the contest and thus not only make the horse more profitable in th6 market but encourages liberal and intelligent expenditure on breeding farms It is an indi Hindi ¬ cation caption too of the confidence of the public for it is only through such confidence that patron ¬ age comes In connection with the subject of this tax however your commission respectfully notes not as a matter of contention with the state department having charge of the assessment and collection of this tax but as one of justice that there are differences between that depart ¬ ment meant and the racing associations which ought not to exist It would suggest that where receipts are only technically receipts where by no possibility could they innure inure to the financial benefit of an association they are not taxable In cases in which they do form part of the rev ¬ enues venues of an association or where as in some purse races the entrance fees do not add to the total value of the purse it is conceded that they taxableIt taxable are receipts and properly are taxable It is scarcely necessary here to say that your comimssion commission has not failed to impress upon all concerned in the sport that to retain the con ¬ fidence faience of the public and to recognize that the real aim of racing is to improve the breed of horses are essentials that must never be lost sight of It is not amiss therefore to refer to an organization formed last year by some own ¬ ers trainers and jockeys and known as the Horsemens Horsemen Protective Association Originally it professed to be an organization formed large ¬ ly for social purposes and there were assur assure ¬ ances dances that it would work harmoniously with the Jockey Club So long as the organization adhered to its professed purposes it was not op ¬ posed or objected to by the Jockey Club It had not however long been in existence before the conduct of certain of its members made it evi Levi ¬ dent that so far as possible they intended that its social end should not bo pursued at all but that it should arrogate to itself powers of gov go ¬ ernment ferment even to the extent of boycotting such racing associations as did not frame their pro ¬ grams according to a plan advocated by them Apart from its bylaws it was apparent in more ways than one that it was about to work in a manner not only Independent of but antag hangtag ¬ onistic monistic to the Jockey Club Such a course would of necessity be subversive of all author ¬ ity city and opposed to the best interests of the turf In speaking thus of the Horsemens Horsemen Protec Protect ¬ tive tie Association your commission deems it but just to some men who entered into it early to say that they did not appreciate what were the secret purposes of certain of its members So long as the association continued in its attitude and organization your commission had to be opposed to it and must recommend to the Jockey Club such steps as will in this and simi ¬ lar lair cases render inoperative any act which might fairly be interpreted as hostile to the best interests of racing
