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PROPOSED TDBF KEFOEMS. The Racing Calendar of this week makes the formal announcement that Mr. F. R. Hitchcock, steward of the Jockey Club, will shortly move the adoption of certain amendments to the Rules of Racing. These amendments are of interest to all tnrfmen, consequently we publish herewith the proposed amendments for the sake of accuracy in their original wording. They are: Amend Rule 4, Part 3, by adding, sfter the second paragraph, "Before Jane 1 in each year no two-year-old Bball ran in any race with more than ,0CO added." Note. This shall not apply to races closed or advertised to cloeo. Amend Part 17, Par. 1, by striking out the words, "Or one of the horses making such dead heat be withdrawn" and add the words, "but if any one of the horses rnnning a dead heat bo two years old, the dead heat shall not bo ran off, and owners shall divide." Also by adding as a separate clause, "If either owner refuse to ran off the dead heat the race shall be divided. Part 17, Par. 1, as amended to read as follows: "In races not of heats a dead hp at for the first place is to be ran off on the same day, at the time the stewards appoint, but at an interval of not 1638 than twenty mincteB, unlees the race admits of division and the owners agree to divide ; bat if any one of the horses running a dead heat be two years old, the dead heat shall not be ran off, and owners shall divide. If either owner refuse to run off the dead heat the race shall be divided." Amend Part 25, Rule 165, 1st Par., by adding after the word "Stewards" the words "of The Jockey Club." Part 25, Rule 165, 1st Par., as amended to read as follows: "When there is no specified penalty for violation of the Rules of Racing or of the regulations of the course, the Stewards of The Jockey Club have power-to disqualify, fine, suspend, expel from, or rule off." Of these three proposed amendments one, the last, is simply the addition ofthreewoids which apparently by accident were omitted. The rale relates to the general powers of the Btewards of The Jockey Clnb, and but the words "of The Jockey Clnb" were omitted, though the further context plainly shows that they wero understood. Therefore, this amendment is Bimply intended to make the rule so clear that there cannot possibly be any misunderstanding it, for according to an earlier rule, "Whenever the word Steward is used, it means Steward or Stewards of the meeting," which strict interpretation is contrary to the sense of Rule 165. The other two amendments, however, are of great importance, that in regard to two-year-olda being intended as an entering wedge for the restriction of two-iear-old racing. It reads: "Before June 1 in each year no two-year-old Bball run in any race with more than ,C00 added." This amendment, if passed, will to a large extent prevent racing associations from offering rich stakes for two-year-olds to be decided in the early season, a practice which has bsen t,oo general in tho past. Tho preparation which the youngsters have to undergo in many cases results in breaking down promising two-year-olds. While from a breeding standpoint these early rich two-year-old stakes tend to develop a breed of sprinters as against stayers, their vitality being impaired by excossive running at so early a period. The amendment is a most desirablo one, for it will at loaet cause the most promising youngsters to ba saved for racing at a time when their development will be such as to enable them better to withstand the rigors of the campaign. The other amendments relate to dead heats, in which a two-year-old iB one of the con-estants, and the chief paragraphs are as follows: "But if any one of the horses running a dead heat be two years old, the dead heat shall not be run off and owners shall divide." "If either owner refuse to run off the dead heat the race shall be divided." The Spirit has for years urged the necessity of such a rule bsing passed and special attention was called to it last spring, when Neponset and Freylinghuysen ran a dead heat at Aqueduct. Th3 rule is not only a humane one, for it is too great a strain on a two-year-old to ask him to run two races in so short a time, and the results are bound to be disastrous. By overtaxing his. energies, his disposition may be ruined and what might have been a game performer may be changed into a sulking coward. There can be no question as to the advisability of passing the part of the amendment that relates to two-year-olds and the majority of turfmen will agree that the second clause that "If either owner refused to run off tho dead heat the race shall be divided," iB the wisest solution of a most difficult problem Spirit of The Times.
