More Three-Year -Old Races Likely.: Change Advocated by Horsemens Association Likely to be Adopted, Daily Racing Form, 1917-02-26

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MORE THREE -YEAR-OLD RACES LIKELY. Change Advocated by Horsemens Association Likely to Be Adopted. By Ed Cole. N -w York. February 25. — Members of the Horsemens Association, through its secretary, Tom Cromwell, are making suggestions to secretaries and managers it race courses in regard to three-year-old events of the future. A meeting of the body was held early in February at which Col. Milton Young, T. P. Hayes and J. O. Keene were appointed a committee to agitate the subject of more races for thrc year-olds. One of the arguments inserted in the document prepared by this committee reads: "If three-year-olds of ordinary ciuality met older horses of inferior ciuality before the fall season it proved extremely dangerous for the future use of the three year-oles. Many of them are rendered useless for the remainder of the year and frequently for life." This presumably infers that a victorious three-year-old in the earlier season is frequently too highly considered in future races by hnndioappers and that it wjuld be better to keep the three-year-olels together as long as possible as a class without jeopardizing their future earning capabilities. This view was no doubt taken by the horsemen as a sort of plea to offset the rule in regard to two-year-olds not being permitted to race in the first months of the year, which has ristricted the earning possibilities of lwo-ye-ir-olls. By giving more races for three year-olds it is presumed matters would be evened up. for what a horse could not earn as a two year-old he would probably earn as a three-year-old. Suggestions Always Welcome to Secretaries. Frank Bryan, in his reply to the Horsemens Associations letter, has suggested that a step further ■Ighl be taken in the matter by stopping races for all ages. One item horsemen appear to overlook. It is u fact that there are times when races for three-year-olds would be hard to fill, and as "good programs" are always the foundation for good racing, secretaries have to ntahs races lroin the material at hand, races that will bring out good entries and provide good contests which appeal to the public-palate. Suggestions are always welcome to secre taries of race tracks, but not always can they be carried out. Any suggestion that will create good contests are always acceptable, and more three-year-oki races are not out of order when there are-sufficient horses of that age to draw from the stalls. There is little epiestion that the associations will comply with the request of the horsemen when possible, but associations can hardly be expected to detract from their offerings to frame a race for thiee or four horses when under other conditions tl.ey could get a ten or twelve -horse race. Fred Rehberger, the secretary at several of the local tracks, says that, for the past year or two. thr.-e-j ear-olds were scarce and races for all classes of horses had to be given to get respee-table fields together. "Iiider the existing conditions," says Mr. Keiberger. "we- have many more three-year-olds than we have had. and we shall be enabled to make races for that class and will do so. I shall increase the number in my books and I have an idea other officials will do the same. They make good races by themselves and always have done so in years past. In t. as I said before, we have been short of three -year-olds for the past four years and have had to do the best we could witii the mate-rial at hand. The horsemens sugge-stion is not a bad one and I feel sure it will be- complied with when possible."


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