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! . , : i 1 t STATUS OF SHILLING CASE Joccey Club Defines Its Position So All May Understand, Maryland State Racing Commission Agreed Jockey Club Rules Should Govern Fall Racing. NEW YORK, N. Y., Nov. 16. The Jockey Clnb has faced the issue of the Shilling case squarely and it is now settled that there will be no compromise with the Maryland State Racing Commission and no relief for Carrol! Shilling at Thursdays- meeting The Jockey Club also places the blame for the difference between the two bodies over Shilling on Commander Ross and his trainer, H. G. Bedwell. Tin; latter has been the principal agitator and his employer, and Shilling are considered to have overaided in BedwelPs badly built effort to obtain a riding" license for Shilling. When assistant secretary of Tiie Jockey Club Algernon Daingerfield, went to Bowie, on Saturday last, ho carried the following letter for the management of that organization, which had a direct bearing on the case of jockey Shilling, to whom a license had been granted by the Maryland Racing Commission: "New York, N. Y., Nov. 12, 1920.- . "Southern Maryland Agridultural and Breeding Association, Bowie, Md. "Gentlemen: "The stewards of The Jockey Club have considered with great cure and deliberation the question of the authority and rules and which, in its opinion, the racing at your course is to be conducted. "First That your license to race emantes. solely.. .. . i rom,"iheV-Mnryland-State Racing Commission. "Second That the Maryland State Racing Commission, at a conference with the stewards of The Jockey Club in New York, on September 1, in default of having then the time or the opportunity to agree upon a definite and complete method Of co-operation with other established turf authorities, agreed that in the absence of a set of definite rules and regulations prescribed for racing in Maryland by the Commission, the meeting of 1020 should be run under th rules of The Jockey Club. "Third That the Maryland Commission would appoint one of the presiding stewards at each of tiie meetinfes running under its licenses. "Fourth That at some future time to be mutually agreed upon a conference would be held between the Maryland State Racing Commission anil The Jockey Club and- a modus vivepdl for the nest racing season would be arrived at to tiie end that the good conduct and discipline of the turf should be promoted. "The Jockey Club therefore feels, and Is so ad? vised by its counsel, that its rules are actually . in force in Maryland by consent of the Maryland State Racing Commission. "Fifth That its rules cannot be changed, excepting by the method prescribed in the rule 232, which calls for a certain time and procedure, necessarily involving not less than three weeks, to accomplish any specific change. , "That in the absence of such change at the present time and until such change can be effected, the racing rules of The Jockey Club arc in forcer at your track. "Owners, trainers and. jockeys attention is called through your kind offices to rule 33." Rule 33 of the Rules of Racing reads as .follows: 33a If a horse runs at any unrecognized meeting lie is disqualified for races to which these rules apply. b Any person owning, training or riding harses which run at any unrecognized meeting is disqualified, as are also all horses owned by or in charge of any such person. c Any person acting in any official, capacity at any unrecognized meeting may be disqualified. MAJOR BELMONTS STATEMENT. Major August Belmont, chairman of The Jockey Club, was asked if the hearing quested by the Maryland Jockey Club on the Shilling case and which has been set for tomorrow, involved the reopening of the "matter. . "No." said Major Belmont. "That is not the way we understand it. It is a conference which Mr. Ross and the representatives of the Maryland State Racing Commission have the privilege of attending. As long as you arc asking me the question perhaps it would be as well to outline the situation so that the matter can be thoroughly understood. "First as to Shilling. When the incident took place for Avhich he was suspended and his case referred to The Jockey Club, he had already created a feeling of mistrust and suspicion, that when he committed a definite breach of the rules, exposing himself to punishment, the opportunity was promptly seized to discipline him. The following spring he applied for a license and at frequent intervals since then he has asked for the privilege of riding. Due consideration was always given, but the stewards of The Jockey Club have felt that it was for the best interests of racing that Shilling should not ride again in races under its jurisdiction, though he was granted a license to train that he might make a living." "It is the unwritten custom the world over," resumed Major Belmont, "where Tcputablc racing authorities exist, to recognize punishment meted out to owners, trainers and jockeys for infractions of the rules. A jockey whose license has been refused, as in the. case of Shilling, would not be considered in good standing by any of the con- tinental Jockey clubs, nor in England, nor Australia, and it has never been the habit of turf authorities to sit In judgment on each others decisions. This mutual support has existed between the independent authorities in racing in the United States, "and Canada, also. "The action of the Maryland State Racing Com- mission, therefore, in granting Shilling a, license to ride was a regrettable mistake, attribuatble to the organizations being new to Its duties and its members having permitted themselves to be misled j by a prominent turfman and trainer, whom they J , Continued on third page. .... STATUS OF SHILLING CASE Continued from first page. trusted. I really do not blame the commission at all, for we had much more than ample proof in our conferences with them of a sincere desire to further the best interests of the turf. The blame rests solely upon Commander Ross and Mr. Bed-well, his trainer. I attach no merit to Mr. Ross eleventh-hour action in forbidding Shilling to ride under his license. As a racing man he knew perfectly well it would mean the overturning of The Jockey Clubs ruling. He counted upon the credulity of the Maryland commission, but failed to foresee sucli loyalty as the Maryland Jockey Club and the sportsmen that surround it manifested. Mind you" and at that point Major Belmont spoke "with additional emphasis. "I do not mean loyalty to The Jockey Club, although I am sure that that exists also, but I mean loyalty to the interests of racing everywhere. It is fundamental that racing authorities stand together against what is undesirable I and support each other in their exclusion of what I they consider as coming under that head. "It is the universal principle and practice," said the chairman of The Jockey Club in conclusion, "that those under the ban must seek relief at the source of punishment. The racing authorities of Kentucky, and those of Maryland and New York as well, can be counted upon to follow this practice. It is already in vogue between Kentucky and New York, and I speak advisedly when I sav when it will also exist between Maryland, New "York and Kentucky. I can go still further and state that a like relationship exists between the Canadian Baling Associations aud our turr authorities already."
