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NO SERIOUS TROUBLE WITH RACING OR INTERFERENCE WITH PROGRESS OF BREEDING ANTICIPATED DURING 1918 New York January 2 What is in store for those who are interested in the turf and the thor ¬ oughbred i Now that the year of 1917 is gone the question has frequently been nut asking what are the prospects for the fiitnnfe Notwithstanding the European outlook and the entrance of the United States into the war there is nothing that indi ¬ cates any serious trouble with racing or interfer ¬ ence with the progress in breeding and improving the thoroughbred thoroughbredIn In the first place President Wilson has in ¬ structed men and women to go on with their labors in the usual way to keen the home fires burning while the boys abroad do their part That in itself almost assures that little will be countenanced by the government that will put obstacles in the way of progress or interfere with economic industries Precedent in all the warring countries is sufficient reason why racing and the raising of thoroughbreds should be continued here hereSomeone Someone will probably take exception to this remark and allude to cessation of racing in Canada In answer it can be truthfully said there were some objectionable features in connection with racing at some of the tracks in Canada that did not meet even the approval of their associates Again Canada is different from this country inasmuch as its breeding industries are confined to a small number of persons It is not like England France Germany Italy Austria Spain and even faroff Russia The governments of all those countries have spent millions of dollars in building up and expanding the thoroughbred breeding industry industryGetting Getting down to cold facts if racing and the breeding industry of this country wore to be checked it would nut out of commission millions of dollars of property thousands of horses of the purest blood both trotters and thoroughbreds de ¬ prive hundreds of employed of a livelihood and cripple hundreds of minor industries which thrive through their connection with the thoroughbred and trotter trotterIt It would also deprive the government of taxes and contributions amounting to many millions annually which could not bu recovered recoveredIt It would throw on to the tax payers for support hundreds of men who are able horse tenders and workers who are not capable of any other occupa ¬ tion It would end progression of an industry that is ntorc Worthy ofnssiatnricS nnd flerpettuitioirahan discouragement discouragementPROTEST PROTEST FROM BROADMINDED UNLIKELY UNLIKELYWhile While the morliid and sentimental the selfish and vindictive and the ambitiously inclined will probably put in their thrusts at raving and other sports during war times there is little likelihood of the broadminded individual entering protest to anything that will give health and vigor to the rising generation or to any industry that will work to the advantage and future of his country countryIn In the absence of Major August Beluiont chair ¬ man of the Jockey Club now in France in the in ¬ terest of this country Frank Sturgis in an inter ¬ view says All earnest and rightminded citizens are trying to conduct their affairs from a personal as well as a public spirited point of view Their efforts trend towards the improvement of national conditions and do justice to the best interests of the people of this country Foremost among these questions will be that of racing racingMr Mr Sturgis then goes on to state the absolute necessity of competition to bring out the better qualities of the horse through which intelligent breeding and improvement is established lie re ¬ cites the history of the thoroughbred from the ancient Arab to the present magnificent animal brought about through contests of speed and en ¬ durance counled with intelligent study in breeding and developing Mr Sturgis says saysFor For over one hundred and fifty years the thoroughbred socalled has been the chief ele ¬ ment In breeding animals of courage substance general utility and value from that strain conies not only the race horse of today but that magnifi ¬ cent animal known as the American trotter for there is no important animal of his typical Ameri ¬ can breed of horse that will not trace his pedigree in a greater or less degree to the thoroughbred thoroughbredBehind Behind the thoroughbred is the Arab blood with its long history of wonderful endurance great per ¬ formance and many attractive and useful quali ¬ ties The racing of the thoroughbred horse enables the breeder frequently to select the best among the animals which he may have bred and trained By the development of the fittest therefore the strain of blood constantly is improved and the quality is elevated Without racing it is true that much intelligent breeding still would be carried on but it would not be brought to so logical a con ¬ clusion nor would the value of the animal be comparable in any degree with the value placed on him today A careful record of what the Eng lish horse has done on the plains of France for the last three years is the strongest possible in ¬ dorsement of the above statement and the wonder ¬ ful batteries of light artillery which have been horsed by animals of splendid breeding bear earnest testimony to the power of this strain for army work workWe We may go further and say timt the cavalry horse both of France and Kngland claims its strength and endurance largely from the animals selected either from racing stables in Great Britain or France or from the progeny of animals which in their day have been raced It is well that the Italian government and the Austrian government in their wonderful breeding farms for cavalry horses have long recognized and availed of this fact In our own country we have failed to do it justice partly because of the utility of the trotting horse and partly because we were a nation without a standing army of any great numerical strength but this latter condition is changing and we shall soon know and feel that the government is seeking for the class of horse of high quality great en ¬ durance and abb to do prolonged service serviceWe We fully believe that this will be impressed upon the minds of horse breeders throughout the land and that we shall have a constant improve ¬ ment in tho development of our stock and we may look to some degree at all events to the race horse for tiie selection of the bnst materials Let us therefore encourage this industry of horse breed ¬ ing to the l est of our ability realizing that this is no time to stop in the development of a great work workBIG BIG SUM TO ACCRUE FROM ADMISSION TAX TAXIt It is estimated that the admission tax accruing from race tracks alone this coming y ar vllLnmount to considerably more than 1000000 this is aside from surplus taxation income taxes and all other forms of tax which will go into the United States treasury through the medium of the horse There is no method of calculating the returns that will be derived from the fountain of racing and the encouragement of the sport that being the founda ¬ tion of one of the greatest industries in this coun ¬ try tryHorsemen Horsemen and lovers of the horse are contributing daily to the necessities of war They have done their duty when called upon and are still willing Do ¬ nations to lied Cross funds are being cheerfully given by rich turfmen by racing associations and others connected with the turf down to the lowly horse rubber rubberIt It has been suggested by Arthur A Hancock that all horsemen subscribe a part of their win ¬ nings to the lied Cross until the war ends He suggests that associations contribute ten per cent of their gross receipts to the fund breeders ten per cent of the sale of any horse that brings 00 or more and finally asks that owners of horses donate five per cent of their winnings in stakes and purses to the worthy cause Should Mr Han ¬ cocks suggestion be carried out it would make racing and its supplements one of the greatest contributors if not the greatest to the Ited Cross fund in existence existenceAlready Already the government has accepted the Laurel track for an encampment Other institutions of like character have been placed at its disposal in fact there is not a race course in this country but would ba willingly handed over for army serv ¬ ice if desired desiredHorsemen Horsemen are doing their bit also all those connected with turf affairs They are giving their money their time anil their man power to the great cause causeIn In the ranks today are scores of wealthy men high in tht sportsmans world The service flag of the turf can only bu imagined Could it be truthfully engrossed it would contain hundreds upon hundreds of significant stars
