view raw text
ASCPT NEEDS BETTER MANAGEMENT. "The turf scandal at Ascot is apparently closed," says the San Francisco Chronicle. That such a state of affairs was permitted to exist Is a grave reflection upon the management, and It will take time to wipe out the great loss of prestige in the turf world. It will take a whole year of fair and judicious management to regain standing with the public. The scandal did not come as a surprise. Men posted on turf matters knew that some such thing would happen. The Ascot association was not so situated that it could steer clear of such rocks as it encountered. There was lack of harmony among the people that should have been working for the success of the association. Different people had different axes to grind. James Woodlawn Brooks, the manager and promoter of Ascot, was antagonistic to Judge Hamilton and to George Rose, the leading stockholder. There is absolutely no doubt that the Williams stable was favored. Race after race appeared in the book the conditions of which favored horses in the Williams stable. "Boots" Durnell was said to have favors extended him. At any rate, Durnell and Williams were the leaders of the one wing that stood for Brooks. George Rose, the bookmaker and big stockholder, espoused the cause of McCafferty, who also had a following among a number of disgruntled owners. Roses interest in McCafferty was a matter of dollars. He had advanced that trainer a considerable sum of money to ship from New York to Ascot. Then, again, McCafferty made a number of disastrous plunges in the Rose book, until lie was indebted in something over 10,000. This explains an angle of the, fight at Los Angeles that will make certain matters more easy lo understand. "After the experiences of the present season there will be a big cleaning out at Ascot. If the game is to be preserved at that point, some of the gamblers will have to let go some of their stock. At the present time they have complete control. Judging by the opposition of the public and the press, it looks as if it would be judicious to get more local men interested in Ascot. The present state of affairs cannot exist much longer. A head to Ascot is an absolute necessity. If there had been any head to the concern the Durnell-McCafferty scandal would have been nipped in the bud."
