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ENGLISH AND AUSTRALIAN METHODS An Australian Pronounces English Racing Man ¬ agement Cumbersome and Not UptoDate A newspaper man from Australia temporarily in Kngland has from time to time furnished London Sporting Life readable disertations on English racing as he views it and Australian racing as he knows it In a recent article which is here reproduced he Iioints out some radical differences between tliw way the comfort and convenience of spectators is catered to at Newmarket and on the great Australian tracks the comparison not being in the least in favor of Headquarters In England From his observation it can also be fairly deduced that turf discipline is really more strictly enforced on tin leading American tracks than in England contrary to average impressions as such a conclusion may be beWhy Why not was the question which being of an inquisitive turn of mind 1 most often asked at Newmarket last week of owners of jockeys of trainers of bookmakers of professional backers and least of all of the ordinary lovers of racing And with out exception they replied Why not in ¬ deed Greatly daring I also hazarded the good will of a member of the Jockey Club by a similar inquiry and his reply was a terse and challenging whyV whyVIt It is ilot for aii overseas Britisher to descant noon the glories of historic Newmarket They g without saying and I think you will agree that we can take them as written But just as there is nothing perfect in this best of all possible worlds so it may be that the famous club can borrow u few innovations from the Commonwealth without in any ¬ way abating its dignity or gilding refined gold I am persuaded having all the cocksureness of the Colonial that there is room for improvement in the conduct of racing at headquarters and If you will bear with me 1 will endeavour to suggest two or three changes which could be made with advantage to the public upon whose patronage after all tho success of every meeting depends dependsIn In a very important respect we are much better catered for in Australia we get a vastly greater chance of seeing the horses before the race In the race and after the race The straights at both Flemingtou and Randwlck run right in front of the grandstands within the enclosures of which ninertenths of the spectators are gathered The horses filing out from the saddling paddock enter the course about midway They are walked or trotted up a furlong or so past the stands and then taken three or four furlongs for a smart gallop to open their lungs and freshen up their niuscles From this preliminary burst they return again past the spectators to the starting point From the moment the webbing rises until they are placed by the judge they are always in sight and every phase of the race can be watched watchedRunning Running around a vast amphitheater you can always see which horse is in front and by how much and get a better idea of the factors which In flueuce the result than any jockey In the race liow ever observant lie may be On the Flat which is the grassed land beyond the further railing a huge board displays the numbers of the starters and the names of the jockeys while for additional identification each horse bears its number on its saddle cloth In a lielil of twenty horses it is not everybody who can pick out the colors of every owner promptly and accurately The numbers there ¬ fore enable the ordinary occupant of the enclosures to pick out the horses first by their numbers and then to associate them with their colors so that in time they become fairly familiarized In a word the Jockey Clubs in Australia aim at providing race ¬ goers with every reasonable facility to enjoy their afternoons sport sportNot Not the least appreciated of their short cuts to knowledge is n plan of the stalls in which the horses are kept in the saddling paddock As you enter this reserve from the grandstand just oppo ¬ site you is a board of generous dimensions in which the location of every horse is shown by a number The stalls are numbered so that all you have to do is to look for tho part of the paddock in which this number is displayed and as the stalls are numbered from qne upwards this is soon found If there are any more ingenious ways in which patrons could be afforded fuller information I am confident that the clubs would quickly introduce them themCompare Compare these conveniences with those granted at Newmarket The horses have to be searched for like a needle in a haystack and when like Crag anour they are tucked away in an enclosed box they cannot be seen at all until with the colours up they make for the track In passing I believe this system x f quietening highstrung horses by keeping them far from the madding crowd is one that could be copied with considerable profit iii Australia Many horses have lost big races be ¬ cause they have been upset by the toopressing at ¬ tentions of a crowd oblivious to their nervous condi ¬ tion These are of course the exceptional horses The good campaigner rarely requires coddling The monograms on the rugs afforded some measure of identification at Newmarket The Royal Crown en Flowerjug was unmistakable but there is only one King and there are thousands of other owners ownersWhen When the horses left the paddock the sped away down the track affording only the most fleeting op ¬ portunity for studying them In the case of Craga nour I will admit that the halfminute glimpse of beautiful balance and wellnight perfect action was sufficient for at any rate one Australian He is so astonishingly like Aurum the finest threeyearold of the last twentyyears iii Australia that it would have been rank treason to have looked elsewhere for the winner even though the reputed heads were mainly supporting Louvois But the pictnrc fllin impression brought discomfiture in two other instances Sobleski and Inconstant George Once they leave the barrier the horses as you know come practically head on and I defy any man in the stand to assert with any degree of confidence that any particular horse is ahead It is a sweet stretch of galloping country though unless I am wrong the horse nearest the far rails climbing slightly higher undulations must have to cover the most ground hut I am only concerned here with emphasizing how little the racegoer can see of the horses When they have finished they disappear be ¬ yond the member stand through the paddock whero from the other stands they cannot be seen In Australia they return to weigh in midway In front of the stands and in full view of all allWhich Which suggests one other point It took on an average seven or eight minutes to complete the simple process of weighing in Meantime the ring could not safely pay out nor could betting be con ¬ ducted on the next event And when the jockeys had at last turned the scales correctly the glad news was not communicated to backers as in Australia by the exhibition of a semaphore arm from the top of the unsaddling enclosure where it is visible to everybody but men rushed to the entrance of the stands and bawled all right or some such notifica ¬ tion and the ring frantically paid out and was forced to compress the betting on the succeeding race within a few minutes to the palpable discom ¬ fort and probably financial loss of those who had in the rush to accept unduly shortened odds The book ¬ maker working at fever pace cannot afford to take risks and very properly gives himself the benefit of the doubt as to the price that should be offered If the boxes in the paddock were numbered and the horses were numbered what a gain this would be to the public many of whom are attracted merely by the love of a good horse and do not care anything about betting Again if the correct weighing in were only signalled in the easy manner I have mentioned how much the work of the ring would be expedited Why not notThere There were other features at Newmarket which surprised The ticktieking and running in tlie ring were an alwminable nuisance Twice my hat was knocked off by a man making convulsive movements with his hands and arms gripping his ear or pulling his nose I would gladly have done the latter to give some confederate in the other ring the odds that were being wagered on the race Tlie visitor might be forgiven for thinking that he had wandered into a reception house after wit ¬ nessing their antics In Australia the same para ¬ sitic plague broke out in epidemic form but thank goodness it was lirst restrained and then rooted out Any man making strange signs today is quietly re ¬ moved The ticktacker is not necessary to betting though he may be of some use to the smaller fry and he Is an intolerable intruder who inflicts unpleasant physical hustling upon the man who does not attend a racecourse to be pushed and shoved and battered as if he were a punching ball ballOn On the track I could not help noticing some equally vigorous work Without the slightest at ¬ tempt to conceal their purpose jockeys did not ride their mounts out when they found that they could not win or perhaps even be placed In half the races I saw not more than five horses were genuinely trying at the finish With all respect I would ask Have not some of the surprises of the season been due to the jockeys philanthropic disinclination to drive his horse along when it was pretty certain that A bad start or bud judgment in position hud destroyed any chance of scoring If you ivonnit jockeys to ease up their horses when they like how are you going to be able to detect the embryonic coup when a horse is started with no intention of attempting to win but only to get down in the weights Pardon me if it sounds egotistical but in Australia the rules of racing declare that horses must be legitimately not cruelly ridden out and the Stewards are thero to see that this rule is not merely honoured in the breach breachOn On a splendid roomy track like that of New ¬ market Interference ought to IM absolutely im ¬ possible yet in each race then was strange crowd ¬ ing and what looked remarkably like bumping Was it bad riding or reliance ujion an easygoing panel of Stewards StewardsOf Of course 1 must plead guilty to Imlng a stranger within the gates and to being perhaps prejudiced by the fact that in our Dominion first consideration is given to the comfort and convenience of the gen ¬ eral public from whose pockets the money comes to support racing Yet I cannot help thinking that the very modest suggestions which I have nnulo would be warmly welcomed by the great bulk of racegoers and that they will loin me in asking Why not
