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Here and There on the Turf Wisdom of the Lexington Stewards. E. R. Bradleys Bad Year. Breeders Futurity Memorable. Charles F. Price, S. C. Nuckols, Jr., Andrew G. Leonard and C. W. Hay, stewards of the Lexington meeting, are to be congratulated on their intelligent application of the rules of racing in the running of the Breeders Futurity Wednesday. It was truly unfortunate that it should become necessary to take the race away from Edward R. Bradleys Betty Beall, but the offense of her rider, W. W. Taylor, left no other course possible. Then the ruling off of the rider, for not only his offense in riding but his later outburst of defiant impudence, was commendable, as was also the similar action taken against J. T. Taylor, an elder brother, who became insulting and profane. It is only such swift punishment that will keep the turf above reproach and when the punishment is deserved it should be made lasting. There must be instilled in the minds of jockeys and all others on the turf that the rules mean something, and the! stewards must at all times command respect! if their rulings are to be respected. Wherein came the particularly intelligent application of the rules was not in merely the disqualification of Betty BealL although at the finish of the race E. Fator, who rode J. S. Wards Donges confirmed as the winner was beating Taylor with his whip. This roughing was strikingly similar to the race at Saratoga last August, in which both Thomas Monahans Rebuke and William Dugans Leghorn were disqualified and the race awarded to Excelsis, that was about three lengths away and in no manner interfered with by either of the first two horses. The similiarity is that in each case it began with the grabbing of a bridle rein while alongside. Fator was whipping Taylor because the Bradley rider had snatched his bridle rein as he came alongside with Donges. Carroll was whipping Kelsay because Kelsay had grabbed the bridle rein of Leghorn, his mount. In one case the whipping is not taken into consideration, while in the other the jockey puts himself out of court because he fought back. As a matter of fact, when Taylor, or when Kelsay, took hold of the bridle rein of the contender that was alongside he became an outlaw and as such was not entitled to any of the protection afforded by the rules. In the famous double disqualification of Royal Meteor and Jacquelina at Havre de Grace on September 25, 1912, the offense of Carroll II. Shilling and Diggins, the two riders at fault, was hardly a parallel to that of the Saratoga racing, and it was different from what happened in the Breeders Futurity. On that occasion it was a fight with whips all through the stretch and it was impossible to determine which rider struck the first blow. It was just a disgraceful fight and they appeared to be equally to blame. On that occasion the race went to Richard T. Wilsons Flying Yankee, which was a good ten lengths back of the first two. That was the last time that Shilling rode in a race. This disqualification of Betty Beall is just another chapter in the long string of ill-fortune that has followed the Bradley silks all through the present racing year. The first bit of bad luck was when Busy Amercian went amiss while making ready for the Kentucky Derby. Then, as was feared before he was started, he broke down in the race. Then, at Saratoga, the stable was particularly unfortunate and it was at that meeting that Bright Tomorrow, after finishing first, was disqualified. Following this, in a subsequent race, a Bradley starter was badly fouled in the stretch, but no claim was lodged against the offender and the order of the finish was not disturbed by the stewards. Time and again this year Bradley starters have been most unfortunate and altogether it has not been a Bradley year. The Breeders Futurity of this year will long be remembered, not only for the disqualification of Betty Beall and the ruling against ! the Taylors, but also for the destruction of H. P. Whitneys Blue Peter. Briefly, the story of the race is the disqualification of Betty Beall and awarding of the prize money to J. S. Ward, the owner of . Donge3; the virtual leaving at the post of H. P. Whitneys Enchantment, winner of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, and the injury to Blue Peter that made his destruction imperative. These are incidents enough to make one race remembered, even though they are not the memories one likes to have of big races.
