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ENGLISH KACISG ACIDS REFORM A short time back the Jockey Club made changes in the rules governing racing in Eng ¬ land that will work radical changes in the direction of curtailing the present excessive racing of 2 yearolds earls and in substituting long distance races for the sprints that have for some years past formed the preponderating feature in the daily programs of nearly all English race meetings The reforms sought to be affected in England are equally needed in this country The Spirit of the Times repro reproof ¬ duces deuces from Land and Water the following com ¬ ments aments on the new rules To go into details with regard to the short report which appeared in the Calendar the first business was the properly defining of what is a weightforage weight race end it was decided that all races which are not handicaps or selling races are weightforage weight races That this was not exactly the case before the somewhat curiously worded old rule wont to prove and aa a matter of fact though the Derby St Leger Leer etc were always spoken of as the graat great jrmghtforage races they were nothing of the Kind In fact to go strictly by the old rule weightforage weight races were those which were not handicaps buc buck in which horses of various ages took part for example the Ascot Cup the ten thousandpounders thousand and the July Cap at New ¬ market or the Fernhill Fern Stakes at Ascot where 2yearolds ran against old horses At the same time all races except handicaps and selling plates have been broadly spoken of as weight forage races for years and thus the new rule is only the confirmation of an old custom The next business was the altering of the definition of a sweepstake which was altered slightly so that it is now made imperative that the stakes deposited by the subscribers may be paid to the winner or other horses placed no mutter what money or other prize is added The old rule did not stipulate for any such payment and therefore it was possible for any race ex ¬ ecutive Cutie to tap the stakes if they exceeded the guaranteed value of the race raceThe racketed The above alterations were not of para me unt aunt interest but the alterations in Rule 45 are the most sweeping measures of reform which have been brought about during the present generation Rule 45 as it stood until last week provided that one half of the total amount guaranteed for prizes at each meeting should be apportioned to a race of a mile or over for 8yearolds and upward This was thought to be a big reform when it was passed about six years ago and it had the effect of knocking on the head some of the mammoth prizes especially among the 2yearolds That it did good I have no doubt as it withdrew some of the temptation there was to train young horses in their first season which would have fared better had they been kept The present stewards have however gone a step farther having added to the existing rule the following words and of this half not less than a moiety shall be for races of a mile and a half and upward This addition to the old rale ale makes it certain that we shall get more long distance racing in the future and no mat s sjfr Jeffrey jfr Jeffrey what difficulties there may be at first in throng run the reform will be much appreci appreciate ¬ ated acted especially by the general public who on nine racecourses out of ten will see more cir ¬ cular ocular racing than formerly and not so much of the straightaway spirit spiritLord spirit Lord Stanleys Stanley proposal was made with a view to curtailing early 2yearold racing and after some discussion it was passed that no 2yearold should run in any race of greater guaranteed value than 2CO before June 1 T8i came the stewards proposal with regard to Rule 47 which being carried by a email j majority now reads as follows 47 The program of each day shall be sub ¬ ject jet to the following regulations regulationsli regulations li There shall be at least one race of one mile and a half or upward and at least one race of a mile or upward Neither of these races shall be open to 2yearolds and one of them shall be neither a handicap nor a race with sel seal ¬ ling conditions ii There shall not be more than two races to which 3jearolds or upward are admitted of less than seven furlongs and of these two races only one may be less than six furlongs furlongsHi furlongs Hi Of the races confined to 2yearolds there shall not be more than two races a day before September 1 nor more than three at any time iv Matches and private sweepstakes may be sanctioned by the stewards independent of the above regulations regulationsLord regulations Lord Stanley also contemplated proposing that 2yearolds should only run over four fur ¬ longs before June 1 but this proposal was with ¬ drawn the general opinion being that it was a retrograde movement His lordship however is not quite done yet for he has given notice that at the Houghton Meeting he will move that 2yearolds shall not run with older horses before June 1 1It It will be time enough to discuss this meas meads ¬ ure cure when it is carried and to sum up the whole of what has been done the general effect will bo that trainers will have to try all their horses for stamina as well as speed and in fact in a great measure to alter their present system It is a sort of generally recognized fact that horses recover from the effects of a short race more quickly than from the effects of a long one and that in consequencea consequence majority of the horses iu training more especially the platers platters are only trained for short cuts because they can come again more quickly During the early part of the century fourmile Fourier heats were almost the rule at the provincial meetings and the five furlong sprint was practically unknown A search into the old Calendar however reveals the fact that the runners in the fourmile Fourier heat races came again quite as quickly as the mod ¬ ern Bern sprinters and they performed quite as often in the course of a season Is it then cer Acer ¬ tain stain that horses running a mile and a half and two miles will take so long to recover as the opponents of the new rules make out I do not think there is any reason why they should and in proof of my opinion I may mention that Qolotta Volta ran two races of two miles each well within the hour at Ascot this year and that a fortnight afterward she rau Frau the best race of her life when she won the Princess of Wales Stakes at Newmarket Newark
