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Here and There on the Turf Discipline at New Orleans. Jockeys to Be Kept on Edge. Fair Grounds Meetings High Promise. i Reviewing the Jefferson Park races of Tuesday it would appear that some of the riders had not recovered from their Christmas turkey. It was a day that was marked by some bad riding and two of the jockeys were suspended, while another was grilled by the stewards. The boys punished were Merimee, who was barred from accepting any more mounts at the meeting, as well as ordered to cancel the engagements he had made, and Thomas was suspended for ten days. This Thomas suspension will carry him over into the Fair Grounds racing that opens Monday. It is well that the stewards should hand out thes? punishments, but it is unfortunate that they should be necesary. Besides these riders, "Chick" Lang came in for a severe reprimand for his riding of Miss Marie L. Mahlers Lady ; j Inez, when she was beaten by both Vennie j and Roseate II. A. Wilson was another of the offenders of the day, so that altogether the sport was marred by these saddle exhibitions. Too often jockeys of experience, who have j attained some measure of fame on the big j tracks, are prone to take liberties at a winter meeting which they would not dream of attempting in Canada, Kentucky or New York. For that reason the work of the stewards at ttc winter tracks becomes more ticklish than at Churchill Downs, Belmont Park or Pimlico. -The riders do not take the racing as seriously and some are prone to show less respect for the officials. That makes it necesary to insist on the respect that is imperatively necessary to clean racing. The Jefferson Park stewards are seeing to it that no rough or foul riding will be tolerated, and they are to be commended. What is almost as reprehensible as rough . and foul riding is the sometimes lack of effort j ! and the listlessness that marks the work of some of these same riders. They give an altogether different exhibition in the Kentucky Derby, the Realization Stakes or the Prcak-ness Stakes and it should not be. The jockey j that is worth while will exert just as much skill j and courage in a 00 selling race as he will in the biggest prize of the year, but few indeed take cheap races as seriously. By reason of the watchfulness of the stewards presiding over winter racing there has been a decided improvement in the riding, but it is only constant vigilance that will keep the riders up to the mark. Each year jockeys have been shown more and more that the winter track is no place to take liberties, but it is evident that some have not yet learned the lesson. The punishments handed down by the Jefferson Park stewards for the indifferent riding of Tuesday should have a decidedly beneficial effect on the sport at New Orleans for the remainder of the racing season in the southern city. The recent announcement of the Business ! j j Mens Racing Association at New Orleans of its plans for the Fair Grounds meeting that opens New Years Day, gives that sport an altogether new importance. With thirty-eight days of racing and a distribution of S2S8,800, the racing reaches the liberality of the summer meetings. There will be four races of 5,000 value each and the nominations that have been received for the first one of these, the New Years Handicap, leaves no doubt of the good class of the horses which will be seen in action. They are horses worthy of the race and indicate a higher place on the turf for the Fair Grounds than in recent years. All of this was made possible by the reorganization of the old association and the forming of a body of men of high standing, commercially and socially. The increased purses make certain the racing of the best horses which have been trained through the winter months. The plans for the conduct of the meeting hold out a promise that the New Orleans season will see the turf more firmly established there than at any time since the revival of 1914. John Dymond, Jr., president of the association, admitted when he took the office that he knew little of racing, but he has surrounded himself with men of standing and high repute in turf matters and in the close attention he has given to the affairs of the association, ever since he accepted the presidency, has made him an ideal selection for his high office.
