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I i i i GROWING OUTLAW RACING IN ENGLAND. Some reference to the increase of unsanctioned racing in England since the regular meetings were restricted l" Newmarket Heath w::s made in Daily Racing Form a few day- ago. Leading barf writers there tike a grave view of the matter, as witness the following from "Vigilant" in London Sportsman of July 10: "How will tin growth of napping meetings affect the turf proper: is a question thai thoughtful sportsmen are beginning to ask themselves, and the subject is undoubtedly one thai is quite likely to grow in importance unless the government realises I the situation b] giving the Jockey Club a free hand I 1 to license sufficient meet tags to meet the require- men:- of the moment. Rnehag per se is perfectly legal, and cannot be slopped except by an act of Parllam nt. but racing as we kn w it is unfortunately controlled b] a body of straightforward gentlemen I write unfortunately because their verj honesty ha- been our undoing; I hey undertook io -lop the sport if the g .veruineiil decided that Its colli iiiuaiice interfered with the public s-rvicc Now mark the sequel. Cnlfa eased sseetlngs arc spring hag up all over the country; there i- no statutory |iower by which they can be ipia-hed. and no eon trolling body with the same authority a- that pas sessed by the Jockey Club. Sennit: the Sapping meetings are no; interfiled with, anil we have a truly GRbertian situation in that racing in its highest form is stopped, whereas in its lowest and bast useful aspect it tlouri-ho- exceedingly. I do not wish to write h.ir-hlv of trotting and gall ping race-, but to -ay that they benefit the breed of bones i- to draw very largely on the imagination, and it is surely impossible to argue that they, as at present conducted, can la any way do the conntrv aay credit or In m HI the horse breeding emnmualty. The ill considered action of the government has brought this state of things about, and one wonders h w ihe s. W. Rallwaj laalrlnln will deal with the crowd- that present themselves to be rallied to Iinber Court on th" occasion of the galloping races lo be held there, only a short distance from San- d wa Park, about the date ,.f running the Eclipse Make- in normal time-. •A e;ri,v,.r consideration by far is. in my eyes. the results that may fairly be expected. Will Ihe Government take any act! m. and. if so, will any distinction lie made as between this class of racing and the spoil under the J key Club control? I fear not. To these people racing is racing, and they ale no more capable of distinguishing between a weedy, eaat-off gelding rareening around a mud track and a cup horse galloping Across Newmarket Heath than they were of read-imr the signs of approaching conflict with lier-many in time t" prepare for Ihe attack. That l- mi- phase of the danger. Another is the passible education of the sporting public downwards. I mean that there seem* lo lie a real Chance that these galloping meetings may catch on. and so do 1 arm to racing by diverting the publics admission money into other channels, thus depleting the coffers of ihe existing race course companies. I hold ii" brief for the companies. I should like l i see them remodeled iu many particulars, but it would surely be a blow lo racing in its highest mission if Sapping meetings in Surrey, for instance, could compete for the peoples patronage with fixtures under the Pules of Racing at Hurst Park, Kempton or Sundown. A grave crisis has ariaea, ami the consequences may be disastrous in the extreme, for tin dangers of legislation iu the circumstances I have outlined are real, ami approach nearer with every unrecognised meeting that is held."
