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LONG DISTANCE RACING THE DECLINE OF RACES OVER LONG DISTANCES REASONS FOR DECLINE PACE AND WEIGHTS WEIGHTSRACING RACING CLUBS WILLING BUT OWNERS OWNERSAND AND TRAINERS ARE NOT RESPONSIVE BY W S VOSBURGH VOSBURGHWhy Why is it that we have no races over a distance of ground two three or four miles I am often asked askedBecause Because owners or their trainers will not race their horses such distances I am com ¬ pelled to answer answerBut But we did have them until recent years yearsVery Very few within the last twenty years yearsI I am tired of these six and sevenfurlong races Dont you prefer seeing a longdistance race raceYes Yes and most people who go racing do but we do not control the horses horsesWhat What are the objections to longer races racesThere There are many Nowadays horses run too fast to run far The limit of a horses ability to run at top speed is about three furlongs Horses are now trained to break from the barrier and run at nearly top speed to the winning post No horse then could gallop over a long distance at the speed they now run in sixfurlong races the speed cannot be maintained To race over long distances horses must be especially prepared Then the long races would diminish the burst of speed and unfit a horse for shorter races if run soon after afterMen Men must play their game to suit their cards Race courses must make programs to suit their horses The owners prefer training their horses for short races Hence to offer long races would bs to court disaster It is impertinent to tell an owner how he shall race his horses except that he shall race them to win Any other restriction like a restriction of any trade or commerce unless imperative for its welfare and the necessity clearly demon ¬ strated is repugnant to the spirit of the age As long ago as 1892 the reformers in the West induced the Turf Congress to pass a rule that no race for all ages should be less than a mile It nearly wrecked western racing and was repealed repealedFor For what are called overnight events short distances are a necessity in view of the great scope racing has assumed They enable horses to be raced with greater frquency Any measure to restrict them is an injury to men with large studs or stables or whose capital is invested in racing property Such a measure would cut down the value of their stock 50 per cent It was to provide for such wellmeant but shortsighted legislation that the late General Peel made his motion in England That any owner of race horses or persons affected by such new rule or alteration may petition the Jockey Club through the secretary all such petitions to be read at the meeting before the question is put putIn In other words the short races called overnights are necessary in order to furnish racing for a large class of owners who are so unfortunate as not to own horses of the higher class euch as race for the great sweepstakes Those men are now an important factor in racing in that they furnish a market for the sale of horses and buy not yearlings alone but all the horses in training that the great racing stables will Eell The great racing stables each year become overcrowded and arc forced to weed out These buyers take them and by racing them in the overnight events fill the programs which it would be difficult to do with ¬ out them themREASON REASON FOR SO MUCH TWOYEAROLD RACING RACINGThere There is an excess of races for twoyearolds we are often told There is but existing circumstances render that a matter of expediency Three are more races for twoyearolds because there are more twoyearolds With the great scope racing has assumed owners are compelled to breed or buy large numbers of colts and fillies and they cannot afford to keep them idle Racing is the most expensive of all sports Very few owners find it profitable Mr Keene did from 1904 to 1910 and the Dwyer Brothers did from 1880 to 1890 but these are isolated cases Owners demand races for twoyearolds they fill better and the form not being as definitely established as in the allaged class they have the greater element of uncertainty which is the charm of racing Briefly then excessive racing of twoyearolds is an outgrowth of racing on a great scale and without which racing could scarcely be conducted on a great scale nor could many owners afford tho expense of a racing stable stableTrainers Trainers say longdistance races make horses slow it dulls their speed So it does if the trainer expects to race them soon after at short distances And that explains the matter The trainer is looking for a place where he can win and as his percentage not to speak of his holding his job is involved he doesnt care to impair his horses usefulness as money winners The trainer has no objection to pleasing the public but he doesnt care to do so at his own expense Training and racing is to him a business and his interest demands that his horses ihall be profitable to his business It is unfortunate that such a condition should exist but exist it does Owners may be influenced by sentiment but to the trainer racing is a purely practical matter and he would rather win a short race than lose a long one oneBut But we did have longdistance racing until recent years repeats our questioner We did because a different condition of affairs existed Up to 1886 racing in the Metropolitan circuit was confined to three days each week Then the Dwyer Brothers began racing at Gravesend on off days and soon we were racing every day It stands to reason that with racing only three days each week races would fill a great deal better than they do with every ¬ day racing as at present The chances to win are reduced horses are not BO jaded As it is now with racing every day in the week the chances are so increased that trainers unless they feel pretty sure of their horse scratch him knowing there will be plenty of opportunities in the future That keeps the fields smaller than in the old days Moreover the fact that there is so much racing makes long distance racing almost impossible Long distance races much as we all prefer them are quite out of question when racing has assumed the proportions it has But with racing three days in a weak as was formerly the case such races could be made a success successFACTS FACTS ABOUT DISTANCE RACING OF THE OLD DAYS DAYSHorses Horses carry higher weights now than they did in the days of three and fourmile races In his great four miles in 7 19 Lexington a fouryear old carried 103 pounds Fellowcraft in his race in 1874 carried 10S pounds Ten Broeck in 187G when he ran in 7 15 a four yearold carried only 104 pounds Aristides four years old when in 187G he ran two and onehalf miles in 427J carried only 104 pounds In this year 1922 a fouryearold would have from 124 to 128 pounds It is hardly necessary to add that the longer the distance the more weight tells upon a horse While the distances of races in the Metropolitan circuit have been reduced steadily since 1870 the weights have been increased not in proportion perhaps but to some extent We all desire horses to be above the grade of sprinters but we also desire that they should carry a mans weight This tha earlier horses did not do They carried featherweights When Lexington and Lecompte ran in 1854 they had eightysix pounds and eightynine pounds respectively When Norfolk ran his great threemile heats at Sacramento in 527 529j he carried only 100 pounds The modern method of higher weights is in keeping with the terms upon which racing clubs are chartered namely to improve the breed of horses and horses which cannot carry a mans weight are not wanted wantedAll All attempts made within the last thirty years to revive racing over distances have failed Formerly we had the great cup races at two miles and a quarter Bramble won five of these cups in one season 1879 the Baltimore Westchester Coney Island Saratoga and Brighton But after Hindoo fell lame following his race with Eole for the Coney Island Cup the Dwyer Brothers became opposed to racing at Cup distances and as they owned most of the horses of Cup caliber and refused to start them the Cup races declined Some years since the Louis ¬ ville Jockey Club made a brave attempt to revive fourmile races by giving the Endurance Stakes It was a race of considerable monetary value But only the most ordinary selling platers started for it the owners of highclass horses nominated them but they took good care to keep them in the stable when the race was run The result was that the club was compelled to abandon the race for want of support from owners ownersIt It is no fault of the racing associations that there are so few distance races The associa ¬ tions are willing nay even anxious to give them as they believe the public like them But there has been no response from the owners and trainers When such races are offered they degenerate into a chase instead of a race one horse coming in alone chased by some poor scrub running for second money Worse still they are apt to result in a walkover Take the Saratoga Cup for example a race that has produced in times gone by some of the greatest races in the history of the sport Except the contest between Exterminator and Purchase in 1919 it has not produced a contest of any interest for some years past last season Exterminator being allowed a walkover Then the Jockey Club Stakes at Belmont Park an effort of the Jockey Club to revive distance racing In 1919 Purchase had a walkover In 1920 only one horso started againrigMan o War Last year we had Bellsolar struggling far in the rear of Exterminator Racing associations say We are willing to give long races but thy wont filL
