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HARNESS RACING IN RUSSIAN POLAND An Americans Description of Moscows Noblo Track and Its Operation It took me the best part of two days and nishts to travel from Berlin to Moscow a distance of about 12 0 miles but my train if slow was sure The change from Germany to Itusslu is like that between dreaming and wakinfj so jrreat is tin difference The Kussiau landscape seemed arid and dreary but occasionally I saw a bunch of soldiers there are soldiers everywhere wherever you so in Europe careering over the steppes in a way that reminded me of Colonel Joe Markey cliarsinK up San Juan bill at the head of his retchneut How ¬ ever the dreariness all ceased the moment that I landed at Moscow when I found Frank Catou and other American waiting for me at the station and during the entire two weeks of my stay the time passed like a brilliant and exeitiiiK dream every hour belnr crowded full of experiences so novel and entertaining that 1 hardly know how to InKin to tell about them It would take a big book to do it risht and how I can et it all Into a short story I dont know So I will only make a try I IParticularly Particularly do I feel at a loss when I think of all the hospitality that was lavished upon me at every turn that I made and which I can never re ¬ pay Americans are in the habit of thinking of Hussia as a faraway country wrapped In ice and snow where the people are kept busy most of the tiim tryinjr not to freeze to death and thats what I also used to think But I dont any longer It seems very near to me now and instead of a cold desolate place a warm and jjenial one full of good cheer and friendliness that know no stint 1 look back upon my stay there with a pleasure that 1 cant hcxin to express in words and for ward to returning there very possibly at some future time with the same feeling feelingTrotting Trotting in Hussia is a big subject a great tiling Hero in this country we think that we have nothing left to learn about it but I want to say that after seeing how It is done there I felt very humble and secondclass and crude And so would any other American in my place Russian ways are not our ways and there are so many of theirs that we might imitate to our advantage that I wont t try to enumerate them all One thing is sure I they were a revelation to me and have given me a new outlook on the game that 1 am thankful for Moscow Is the great horse center of Hussia and the magnitude with which trotting is carried on there would strike a Grand Circuit regular dumb The track of the Moscow Driving Club is only twenty minutes ride by trolley from the heart of the city and the magnificence and extent of the I plant can only be comprehended upon seeing it The grandstand is of immense size and in architec ¬ ture and appointments there is nothing in America at either a trotting or a running track that ap ¬ proaches it The track itself is a regulation pat ¬ tern being one mile or 1 12 versts in circumfer ¬ ence There are inside it two other tracks making three in all of which only the large outer one is used for racing It is built of concrete topdressed with about six inches of sand which is well wet down before the racing starts and when at Its best is good fast footing although after it has been raced over all afternoon and evening it becomes considerably slower and pretty rough It also allows them to race rain or shine The three tracks are not separated from eacli other by rails or fences but by beautiful strips of turf ornamented by parterres of lowers while In the center is a foun ¬ tain which throws its spray high into the air The entire effect is a delight to the eye especially when a race is in progress and the track tilled with handsome horses whose drivers all wear satin caps and jackets of gorgeous hues The two inner tracks are of dirt and are used for jogging and working out exclusively All horses working out are obliged to go the same way of the track they may go cither the right or the reverse way but are not allowed to go both ways at the same time and when one has finished a heat and Is pulled up he Is not turned and jogged back but leaves the track di ¬ rectly by any one of the numerous exits provided providedThe The track grandstand and enclosure forming the driving park are enclosed by a high ornamental wall or fence of concrete the hotting ring being as witli us beneath the stand with a weighing out paddock at the lower end There are 110 stables within the park enclosure all are outside At what we call the upper turn there Is an immense build ¬ ing or group of buildings for the temporary use of the horses that are in training or are to appeal in the days racing They are built of brick concrete and similar materials and beside com ¬ prising stables or stalls for several hundreds of horses there are stands from which the drivers and their employes none of whom are allowed in the grandstand with colors up while taking part in the days events watch the races restaurants for their use etc In appearance these buildings are imposing and their extent is enormous for they alone cover nearly as much ground as does an or ¬ dinary American racing plant The scale upon which they are built is necessitated by the fact that as many as 3000 trotters can be seen working out upon the tracks and cooling out at once onceImagine Imagine the sight if you can Such an army of horses reunites an army of men to train and take care of them These men are mostly settled im ¬ mediately about the driving park and with their families comprise I presume not less than 10000 souls a city of themselves As I have said the permanent or home stables of all horses are outside the track enclosure and many of the leading owners have splendid estab ¬ lishments near by For the use of the stables out ¬ side or at the track u charge of 750 15 rubles per month per stall is made Upon race days all horses that are to start are carefully inspected before being permitted to enter the track gates for the coolingout paddock the search for any ¬ thing in the nature of dope or stimulants of any kind for the horses being rigid The wcigli Jng in and out of drivers is different from our method they weigh the driver and sulky together and they must weigh in at 210 pounds at least Each racing sulky is weighed and given an otiicial number or tag when first used which serves as a permanent identification All that the officials have to do in ease they desire to ascertain the weight of any sulky being used in a race is to note its identification tag and then refer to their list of weightsThe sulky weights The starter and the judges at Moscow are placed at the outside of the track and their elliciencv makes the incompetency of many American officials very glaring The free and easy manners of Ameri ¬ can drivers would not go there for a moment and our various wellknown orators who spend most of the time telling the judges their business and rac ¬ ing up and down out of the stand would be thrown over the fence before their first spiel was well started The horses starting in u race file out of the paddock in Indian file and pass up the track in two divisions and when they turn to score onehalf turns to the right and the other to the left The quarter stretch at Moscow is about as wide as that at Cleveland and about ten horses can score abreast Tedious and protracted scoring is not tolerated As at our running tracks each heat or nice is set for a scheduled time and is promptly called then In scoring a horse is given three ehanires and if he spoils that many scores he is not told to take wire of himself but is at once ordered out of the race and not allowed to start In such a ease i bettor gets his money back for in all cases one must have a run for his money Long scores are also unknown The first score the field turns at the 100yard station and n rope is stretched across the truck there above which they cannot go and uftor each false score thte Is moved forward twenty yards I saw some large fields start at Moscow anil tlie delay at the score was very short while the starter hud wonderful control at all times Should a horse throw a shoe or meet with anything other than a collision lie must take his chances as he is isThe The Russian system of harness rucius has been greatly changed in recent years Formerly tlie horses did not race against each other but went alone being started In pairs each going a different way of the track and the one making the fastest time was the winner Now American methods are closely followed and the rules are modeled upon ours but with some decided differences Heat races arc all restricted to two heats If the winner of the first heat does not want to trot another he can retire and if the time of the winner of the second heat does not beat his he gets the money But if lie starts in the second heat the horse that beats his time wins For instance A wins the first heat in 214 J he then pulls out taking his chance that the others dont beat that the next heat If they trot in 214 he loses if they trot in 214 he wins But if he starts in the second heat and B beats him in 215 A wins This might not be popular or successful on the Grand Circuit where a lot of jocks lay awake nights scheming how to beat any system that could be devised but it works very well over there Horses that break are penalized and one that breaks at the finish and gallops under the wire Is disqualified disqualifiedThe The Moscow driving park on a racing day pre ¬ sents a magnificent sight Tlie effort of the club is to attract the people by making the sport attrac ¬ tive and they certainly succeed Every detail is perfect there are no loose ends or slipshod meth ¬ ods all things seem to niovo like clockwork and when to the beauty of tlie grounds and splendor of the buildings is added an Immense throng of people in holiday spirits and attire the effect is something that an amateur like myself cant even attempt to describe The grandstand on Derby day looked like the diamond horseshoe at the Metro ¬ politan on the opening night of the grand opera season in New York All Russians are lovers of the trotters and the ladies are enthusiasts Thou ¬ sands of them attended the Derby and the ele ¬ gance of their costumes and richness of their jew ¬ els fat surpassed anything that 1 ever saw else ¬ where This Is not surprising for the Hussian aris ¬ tocracy is tlie most sumptuous in the world and the Moscow club is chiefly composed of nobles while as is well known the Czar himself is a patron of trotting and the imperial government supports both breeding and racing officially All classes of the public attend however there being a graded scale of admission fees to various enclosures the aver ¬ age being about the same as with us I was in ¬ formed that crowds of 40000 people were not unknown and that they never fell below 5000 Tlie Derby day crowd was about 15000 And every ¬ body bets All the betting is on the parimutuel system and the totalisateurs as the betting machines are called are patronized by everybody men women and children They bet toe in a different spirit from an American crowd not mak ¬ ing a feverish gamble of it but seeming to regard it as a big lark and putting down their money like it was a picnic On Derby day 700000 rubles OF350000 were bet betEverything Everything that can be thought of in the way of comfort and luxury for those who attend the races lias lieen provided It would seem strange to u Grand Circuit follower to witness a program that began at 130 in the afternoon and did not eon elude until nearly 10 oclock that evening at which time it was still broul daylight witli no necessity for the sunset rule That Is what happens in Hus ¬ sia in June and until you get used to it you feel like Little Nemo in Slumberlam Tlie intermis ¬ sions during this time are filled witli beautiful music and social gaiety All along the front of tlie grandstand is a veranda or series of loges and in these and upon the lawn are tables where the occupants dine during the progress of the races the service heln on a scale and of a class appropriate to the assemblage assemblageThere There is a difference of thirteen days between the Hussian calendar and ours The Derby was trotted June S their style or June 21 in ours The days program called for twenty races or heats be ¬ side an effort against time and in these events there were 190 horses named to start of which but a few were scratched The races were at various distances up to two miles but most of them were at a mile Threeyearolds trot only one verst two thirds of si mile and instead of starling on the backstretch and finishing in front of the stand they start near the head of the homestretch and finish on the hnckst retch AM starters must either wholly or part Kiissianbred none of ex ¬ clusively American blood are allowed to compete Charles A Tanner In The Horse Iteview
