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BJMbj|%tem "1 Bmlmnk » i: AN INDEFATIGABLE WORKER FOR THE REVIVAL OF RACING AS A SPORT IN THE GREAT STATE OF MISSOURI I J JOSEPH A. MUREHY. IN pursuance of a plan that he formed long ago, Joseph A. Murphy, known throughout Ihe length and hrtadlh of America as a capable and conscientious racing olficial and man ager, is laboring diligently to restore the racing of tborooghhretls to its former siatus a- i one of the most popular of outdoor spoils in Ihe ureal slate of Missouri, in which he makes his iinnic. As long ago as l!M« . when racing , folk generally believed thai the crusade against hoekiiiakiug. then at its height, would shortly siihsiiii . .indue Murphy took the opposite view. Ai the time he was criticized in certain quarters because of his advanced ideas on the sun-.icei. hut time lias proven thai he was right • and thai his critics were wrong. On Septcm her 27. UNO, in commenting on the opposition of the l.alouia Jockey I lull to the ruling of the Kentucky State Baring Commission ordering Ihe substitution of the nratueta for the h.okni.ik.is on the Kentucky tracks. JaugC Murphy, in an Interview at Cincinnati, was quoted as nay lug: "l.aliini.i will he lucky to lose its ease au.ii.i-t the commission in the litigation at Frankfort. If ii wins, the tiirlt t will br only begun and He Kentucky track* will eventually have to come to the niutiiels anyhow. Rookmakiag in the middle weal is doomed just as sure as the sun rises and sets. "If I were in control of l.alouia the first thing 1 would do would be to instruct counsel to disniis- ihe proceedings at Frankfort, and thin go lo the commission on a gel lo getbet basis for ihe uplifting of the sport. "Bookmaking is dying through no fault of ih bookmaker. While this branch of the -purl has iis backsliders and nondescripts, the majority of its aarmkera are men of Conor ami relinenient. Many of them are my personal Irinds. In the wave of fanatical reform, however, thai has swept over the country, the layman has been made to tieiieve that the bookmaker never has a losing day. Those who are familiar wilh the subject know that the racing way is strewn with the wrecks of plethoric bank rolls, but the outsider tohC this , only winks and knows if all. The bookmaker has !* eii pictured as the personal devil in racing until I he is unquestionably persona nou grata with tin- people who control public aentlaaent and make the law-. ••Kacing in ihe middle west mii-t be built front the ground up again, and this can be done better with the iiini uel-. Thousands of people who love a horse race have slipped away. They must he win back. It can lie done, but ii will take time and work. It might mean tin- curtailment of the season for a year or two; il might necessitate Ihe mixing of alien sisirts with racing. With the niuluels whatever growth there was would be substantial. In tie years l.alouia would not only be ihe wests !iin-l beautiful race track, but also its most popular." Judge Murphys prophecy has come true. The bookmakers have disappeared from the middle West. Tie I.iiniii.i management gracefully accepted the adverse decision of the Kentucky e i- and fair l.alouia is prospering and rapidly regaining all of its lost prestige, just as Judge Murphy predicted it would, under the inutuel system. Judge Murphy is himself at work carrying out in iim-neeiinn with the Cnie!-.il Exposition at St. Louh :he idea that he advanced in 1 !Hr!» that it might be necessary to "mix albn -ports with racing in order to rehabilitate the sport. The racing that was uiven under the auspices of the Universal Exposition at St. Louis last fall was so generously patroaiaed as to have no doubt of the popularity of Ihe sport in Missouri and Judge Murphy is hopeful that the tim ■■ is not far distant When tie- legislature of that state will lie willing to pass a law patterned somewhat after that under which racing is flourishing in Kentucky. Meanwhile he is busily engaged iii making preparations for mare racing on a modest scale with next falls exposition. Judge Murphy, before he became identified with racing as an official, was an active and efficient newspaper man. He began his career as a reporter in his home ctty of St. Louis for the iMolie-Benaorrat, rose to be -porting editor of thai paper and thus came into touch with racing. Chicago then became Ihe field of his Inborn and it was while he was covering the races here that the late tleorge V. Hankins. impressed with his ability, offered him the position of racing secretary at ;ar field Park. He accepted the appointment, but held the position for only a short time, as the track i ceased to operate soon afterwards. He then returned to SI. I.oui- ami became secretary of the Fair Grounds track, one of the most popular ionise- of the west. Shortly afterwards he was advanced to the position of presiding judge and he has since served in similar capacities at many of the important track- of ihe United Stales and Canada, east. west, north and south. A man of positive i •.iivietiniis ami high standards. Judge Murphy enjoys the unbounded confidence and esteem of the lacing public. Il i- hfa policy to exact from one and all alike an implicit oIh-iU-• iue to the rule- ami regulations of racing and this has been one of the secrets of his latum. + — — +
