Doubt Jockey Club Will Take Action, Daily Racing Form, 1916-11-24

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DOUBT JOCKEY CLUB WILL TAKE ACTION. By Ed Cole. New York, November 23. Some of the sensationalists and calamity workers are trying to inject a feeling into others that the Jockey Club will take some action against the Pinilico management owing to its announcement that it will hereafter abandon stake races. It is doubtful if any such thought will even suggest itself to any member ofthe Jockey Club. In the first place, every association under Jockey Club jurisdiction can give as much money as it chooses or can afford to purses and stakes, so long as the rules are recognized. Some tracks can give more than others. As much as the turf rulers would like to see rich stakes and purses everywhere, it is not likely to take arbitrary action in any case. Mr. Belmont simply regrets that such an ultimatum has been reached at Pimlico, and his interview was issued to try and show how advisable it is to give rich stakes, to uphold the breeding industry of this country and to advance the importance of the horse in every particular. For the past few years there have been very few stakes run at Pimlico, hence its determination to cut them all out will not be any serious hardship. The only question at issue is whether it would not have been far more advisable to open some rich stakes, rather than play to the overnight or forty-eight-hour events. As one horseman remarked: "Rich stakes bring the best stables to a race course, and with the best stables come the more aristocratic followers of the turf." This has been the history of racing for centuries. "From little acorns big oak trees grow," is an old saying, but it might be recalled in connection with the fact that one of the Dupont family has decided to arrange a hunt meeting somewhere near Wilmington, Del. It will not take place until next autumn, but there is reason to believe that if it turns out a social success as has the Piping Rock institution of a similar nature, it may be possible a wonderful race course will be built in Dela- " ware. Rut for the war starting when it did there might have been a race meeting in Delaware ere this of short duration and under the auspices of Delawares fashionable set, but the European trouble necessitated the Dupont powder mills to get busy. There is no question that the little hunt meeting near Wilmington next autumn will be looked forward to with much concern by all who are interested in the welfare of the turf.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1916112401/drf1916112401_1_11
Local Identifier: drf1916112401_1_11
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800