view raw text
EASTERN RACING CONDITIONS. With the close of the meeting at Morris Park came anothor immense crowd on Baturday, which further showed how popular racing has become inlthe east under the ablo management of the Jockey Club. The local racing associations havenever enjoyed Euch prosperity before. Tho attendance has been extraordinarily large all the season. Some have attributed the cause to the fact that at various times the poolrooms have had to closo up, but it is more probable that the boom in raciDg was duo to tho presence and outlay of such men as William C. Whitnoy,5Clarence H. Mackay, J. B. Haggin. A. Featherstone, the Meesrs. Keene, August Belmont and others who, by their patronage, have Bucceedod in placing the sport of kings on the highest piano in the history of the turf in this country. Then again the publics confidence in the honesty of racing has been greatly increased, thoughSit must be admitted that there have been incidents daring the year that havo lookedjglaringly bad and yet have been allowed to go unpunished. So little scandal has come to light that the pablic has had no chance to display its sus-picionsand has, therefore, gone to the races day in and;day out convinced that the horses have been, for the most part, running on tho level. Enjoying the publics confidence, therefore, the racing associations have kept a sharp lookout for underhand methods and have, by this vigilance, probably kept many individuals, prone to .double dealing, decidedly iu line. CONTINUED ON SECOND PAGE, EASTEBN BACING CONDITIONS. Continued from First Page. There hava bean but three instances of alleged wrongdoing this year that have come under the official eyas of the Jockey Club stewards. The ease of Jockey Combe, who pulled Wax Taper and was ruled off, was the first offense against the integrity of the sport. Then came W. C. Whitneys charges against Jockey Shaw for a nagligent ride on Blue Girl in the Great Filly StakeB and the nominal punishment of a three days suspension inflicted by the BtewardB, Last, but not least, was the unexpected auspen. ion of Jockey Michaels for "alleged fraudulent vractioes." Within the past two weeks there have been several instances of in-and-out running that have surprised nil turfmen. The defeat of A. Featheratonoa Lamp OLee on Wednesday when he waB favoiite, followed by his easy victory on Thursday at liberal odds, waB one instance not likely to be forgotten, though Mr. Featharatona 13 held blameless by a majority of racegoers. The victory of. Gold Heels in the Woodlawn Vase race on Saturday after his shockingly poor race against Blues and Morn-ingside on Thursday was another instance worthy of comment. Just why Gold Heels showed such a remarkable change of form nobody will know, except those directly identified with the colts work on the track. Some turfmen yesterday maintained that Gold Heele was partially beaten on Thursday, because when the barrier was let 30 The Bard colt wbb all tangled up, while Blues and Moroinsside got away flying. On the other hand the statement was mado that Gold Heela got a poor ride from Odom and was purposely manipulated to fool both the public and the layers. Suffice it to say that whatever was the cause the fact remains that Gold Heels on Thursday at a mile and an eighth was merely a Belling plater with no stamina, while Gold Heels on Saturday at two miles and a quarter was a stake horse possessed of wonderful staying qualities and speed. On Thursday Gold Heels was an even money favorite while on Saturday as much as 4 to 1 could have been obtained against him. It would aaem that such glaring instances of in-and-out running should be noticed in an offical way if only to find out that there has been no wrong. But to allow them to go by the board only serves to increase the drift of the comment among turfmen that "if you are slick enough to get away with it, well and goodl" Those who watch in-and-out performances have not forgotten the victory of Alcedo in the Suburban Handicap when he ran the distance in record time and won at the libaral odds of 10 to 1. All sorts of stories were in circulation at the time about the methods that had been used in handling the colt, some persons going bo far as to Bay that in his previous races he had worn leather boots to be discarded for plates when ha ran in tho Suburban. But there was no actual proof of wrong-doing and as the colts trainer told everybody he knew before the race that Alcedo had worked so fast in private that he would win "sure," there was no ground for a charge of Bharp practice New York Sun.