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EARLY RACING OFFICIALS Name of D D Withers Stands Prominently Among Turfmen Owner of Stable and a Thorough Sports SportsMam Mam He Was Called Mentor of American AmericanTurf Turf Established Brookdole In the early days of the American turf that class of men known in more recent times under the general title of racing officials had comparatively speaking not yet ap pcared Racing had not then assumed a magnitude nor a character that called for the wise and painstaking oversight that in later years was necessary to its welfare The courses were few in number while owners who made a business of their attention to the sport were not numerous numerousMany Many of the race tracks were private busi ¬ ness enterprises that came little if at all under the supervision of any turfmen save their owners The few jockey clubs that existed were widely separated and their in ¬ terests clashed with each other to a limited degree if at all There was a free and easy manner about racing in those days that cannot possibly obtain at the present time when so many thousands of individuals are vitally concerned in results resultsJudges Judges there were of course and stewards but their duties were of a simple character compared with those that today are dele ¬ gated to the gentlemen who now hold similar positions positionsThe The elaborate and intricate rules govern ¬ ing racing and all the manifold details of management are features almost entirely of the modern development of the turf They have resulted from the enormous expansion of turf affairs during the last generation or so and the multiplication of so many varied interests that have sprung up into vital con ¬ nection with it itCHANGED CHANGED CONDITIONS CONDITIONSEspecially Especially the system of handicapping and the mode of wagering originated some thirty years ago and have overshadowed the turf in a manner that could hardly have been dreamed of fifty years previous Under these changed conditions the modern racing offi ¬ cials have been developed and their duties have become so extensive and onerous that it is quite within reason to say that the wel fare if not the entire existence of the turf depends upon their wisdom faithfulness and hard work workThe The racing officials including the presi ¬ dents of the jockey clubs and the stewards with handicappers starters and judges now constitute a body of sportsmen who have an enormous power for evil or for good It is to their credit and to the advantage of turf interests that this power has been almost invariably exercised energetically and hon ¬ estly and for the best interests of the sport in whose prosperity all are concerned concernedNew New York has been particularly fortunate in the number and character of the high minded sportsmen who in various official capacities have substantially contributed to the advancement of racing interests in and about the metropolis From the days of Francis Morris John C Stevens and others of the antebellum times down to the pres ¬ ent time they have almost been foremost among turfmen of the country By their at ¬ tention to the direction of racing affairs and to the practical solution of many of the puz ¬ zling problems that have from time to tune arisen they have contributed markedly to the development and the prosperity of the turf in all parts of the country countryELABORATE ELABORATE RULES OF GOVERNMENT GOVERNMENTThe The elaborate rules of government made necessary by the phenomenal growth of the turf practically originated with the racing officials of the North and they have been a most powerful factor in building up racing into the full stature of a national institution institutionSome Some names of the past stand out in spe ¬ cial prominence in this connection No one who has even the slightest acquaintance with the history of the American turf can fail to be impressed with the vast influence for good that was exercised by D D Withers No more conservative or more thorough sportsman than he has ever had a place in the annals of the turf whether it be of this country or of England EnglandLike Like the Morrises who were also iden ¬ tified with the turf in his generation he came of one of the oldest New York families his father being Reuben Withers well known as the president of the Bank of the State of New York and one of the fashionable resi ¬ dents of the old Second Avenue AvenueMr Mr Withers was brought up to a business career and at an early age became a clerk in the shipping house of the firm of How land Aspinwall While he was a mere boy he was sent to New Orleans to take charge there of the business of the house with which he was connected In the south ¬ ern city he soon set up independently be ¬ coming a large dealer in cotton and farming properties and buying and selling plantations in Louisiana and Mississippi MississippiWhen When the Civil War broke out he gave his allegiance to the South although his father was for the North his long residence in the former section begun at a youthful and im ¬ pressionable age having made him thor ¬ oughly southern in sympathies and opinions During the progress of the war he visited England and the continent of Europe and in after years he delighted to tell how he had been a witness of the great Derby of 1865 when the blue ribbon of the English turf went for the first time to a French bred horse the great Gladiateur GladiateurSETTLED SETTLED IN NEW YORK YORKReturning Returning to this country in 18GC he settled again in New York During his residence in New Orleans he had been a member of the Jockey Club there but had not been identi ¬ fied with racing interests in the Bust until he was invited to join the organization of the American Jockey Club At the first club meeting he was chosen one of the governors and held that office during the rest of his life lifeAssociated Associated with John F Purdy lie bought a string of race horses and at once became prominent in turf circles He was called the mentor of the American turf and effec ¬ tively demonstrated his right to that title for ho was the highest ideal of a true sportsman that tills country or perhaps any other has ever produced As the owner of an extensive stable as a large breeder as one of the founders of the finest race courses In America and perhaps in the world as an able M indefatigable administrator of turf law he conferred countless obligations on the racing community communityAt At the time of his death he was chair ¬ man of the board of control and from his familiarity with the rules of racing he was called the American Admiral Rous Nearly all the rules governing the running of horses in the East and the United States were drafted by him and he was the acknowl ¬ edged American authority in all such mat ¬ ters tersFor For many years Brookdale which Mr Withers established and made famous was one of the favorite resorts of the leading turfmen of the period in the vicinity of New York To quote from an appreciative article that appeared in The Spirit of the Times long ago It was in the library at Brookdale that the sage Mr Withers would buckle down at the desk after his guests had retired to sleep and arrange his stake conditions enter his foals on the foal list and mate his mares by the aid of tables showing per ¬ centage of Touchstone Partisan and Bird catcher blood Here also he made the Rules of Racing codifying the latest English rules into an amended digest to suit American conditions Midnight oil burned low for it was wee sma hours when he sought his couch but if there was a trial of Juvenile or Criterion candidates set down for the next morning none rosa earlier than he heAnd And what famous gay and brilliant meet ¬ ings have been held at this same library in the piping days of the black silk jacket editor Hulbert and Sam Ward Wade Hamp ¬ ton Beauregard rather grizzled but as erect and polite as in the old Fort Sumter days Duncan F Kenner who revived old New Orleans recollections August Belmont John F Purdy silver voiced but bright as gold on racing questions Judge Monson austere and authoritative J G K Lawrence with whom the old gentleman quarreled but re ¬ spected most profoundly profoundlyAt At the time of his death Mr Withers was chairman of the board of control and was rendering incalculable service to racing inter ¬ ests that were concentrated in and about New York His active racing career lasted for more than a quarter of a century and during that entire period he was never in any way concerned in any transactions that could in the slightest degree redound to his discredit or bring suspicion upon the turf turfIn In the business world he was executor of his fathers estate although at his own re ¬ quest he never inherited a dollar being better satisfied to have achieved his for ¬ tune solely by his own unaided efforts For a long time he was president and manager of the East River Ferry franchise whiph was afterward sold to a syndicate in which Austin Gorbin and the Vanderbllta were mostly interested
