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MARYLAND JOCKEY CLUBS INNOVATIONS. In a phamphlet distributed among horsemen at Pimlico last Saturday, in which the Maryland Jockey Club announced a radical departure from its racing practices of the past appears, the following exposition of its new policies: "With the single exception of the Pimlico Nursery which is already closed and the conditions of which now cannot be altered it is our intention to offer no races to be run at Pimlico during 1917 to which horse owners will be required to subscribe, unless it be, by a starting fee, to discourage inferior horses from starting in races designed for those of superior quality, or by a penalty imposed to discourage withdrawals, which would reduce fields below the standard mlnnimum. "No purse will be less than 00 and there will be a feature every day, varrying in value from ?1,200 to ,000. "Handicaps will close no earlier than the work to be done by the handicapper makes necessary. "All other races will close the day before they are to be run. "Our object is by holding all races, irrespective of value, open to all comers, as long as possible, to secure the maximum of quality and contention. "The early-closing stake should not be used by racing associations, operated as commercial enterprises. "Under conditions where there is little racing and where a few men who breed their own horses, for pleasure, want to bring them together occasionally, to test their relative merits, early-closing stakes, to which horse owners contribute a large part, or all of the prizes competed for, are necessary and fair. "But where corporations conduct long race meetings for profit, as theaters and ball parks are operated for profit, there is no more justice in requiring horse owners to contribute to early-closing stakes than there would be in requiring actors or ball players to contribute to the shows in which they perform. "It is indisputable that a large purse, open to all comers until a few days before the race, is more likely to provide a keen contest than an equally large purse, added to contributions of horse owners, who must name their candidates months before. "In the former case all horses are eligible; in the latter case only those which happen to have been entered months earlier. "Again, early-closing stakes arc unfair, as between horse breeders or owners of different degrees of wealth. "The earning capacity of a horse is dependent upon the stake engagements made for him, many months In advance. "If the horse goes lame or, for any reason, proves a disappointment, those stake engagements involve a heavy loss. "Only the wealthy can afford such risks; hence early-closing stakes, practically force the sale of nearly all good prospects to the wealthy. "Is this concentration of good prospects in comparatively few hands calculated to stimulate contention in races? "Is it calculated to improve the health of the turf? "Would it not be better to make the earning capacity, and hence, tiie value, of all horses dependent, at all times, and under all conditions, solely upon their merit? "If tlds were done, generally, there would bo an incentive to men of moderate means to enter racing, for such men would have the assurance that, however modest their beginning might be, any time they were fortunate enough to develop a good horse, they could run him, anywhere, against the best, for the largest prizes, without having to assume, annually, a crushing burden of forfeits. "Such an element, in racing, would also give new life to the respectable public trainer and free-lance rider, who are, now, being driven out of business, by the competition of the private trainers and riders retained by the few wealthy owners who, alone, can afford to assume the burdens of the forfeit list."
