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Deplores the Use of Rogues Badge BY SALVATOR Not so very long ago in Daily Racing Form I alluded to the prevalence of blink ¬ ered thoroughbreds on our race courses and asked in effect why is this thus I spoke of the fact that up to a few years ago the rogues badge was only occasionally seen while now the unhooded heads are the ex ¬ ception Is this I queried because our thor ¬ oughbreds have become more unmanageable worse tempered and unreliable unreliableOr Or is because our trainers and jockeys have degenerated and by their methods have made it necessary to resort to the every day use of an appliance which was formerly considered a stigma For it can ¬ not be denied the horse afortime that sported hood and blinkers was looked at askance Trainers did not like to train that kind Jockeys did not like to ride them The public especially the critical part of it was not anxious to invest money on their chances of winning winningWhat What a change has in the words of the poet come oer the spirit of our dream If trainers and jockeys passed up blinkered horses nowadays they would for the most part find their occupations like Othellos gone And as for the public including the smart section thereof it would do mighty little betting if it kept off them themDANGER DANGER OF IJLIXKERS IJLIXKERSPerhaps Perhaps as an echo of these remarks of mine another article appeared in this jour ¬ nal in which it was stated that unquestion ¬ ably blinkers were necessary for many thor ¬ oughbreds to do their best but that they were not only unsightly but on occasion dangerous things to use Furthermore a de ¬ fense was entered for our trainers and jock ¬ eys especially the latter It was asserted that they had not degenerated in ability but were just as skillful as any America had ever produced producedNow Now of course it is difficult to get any ¬ where in discussing any question of condi ¬ tion when conflicting views simply clash and the sparks produce no illumination So I propose to return to the subject at issue briefly for purpose of trying to obtain some facts and figures that will tell us some ¬ thing worth while whileJust Just recently I have been looking over some very interesting photos of English and French racing scenes taken this summer at Epsom and Longchamps They represented large fields of horses in contest and at the post Those showing the contestants at the barrier were naturally the most informing for my purpose as the detail was clearest and the figures least confused by the camera Well in looking over these photos I was struck by the great rarity of blinkered horses Only occasionally was a hooded head to be seen Often there were none whatever There would be large field shown sometimes of near twenty thoroughbreds every one of them with nothing but his or her bridle on its head headOX OX A3IERICAX TRACKS TRACKSTurning Turning then to some American photos I found that the proportion of blinkers to clean heads was if not absolutely the poposite nearly so I did not find any photo which showed every horse starting in a race that wore em but I did find one which showed every horse but one so accoutered And I have no doubt that some fields go to the post in which every starter wears blinkers blinkersNow Now the question is briefly this Are the English and French trainers so much stupider than our own that by failing to use blinkers except in rare instances they are failing to get the best results with their horses Or are the English and French horses so superior to our own are they in other words so much gamer truer and brainier that they will give up their best without being virtually blindfolded before they are brought upon the course courseAmerican American horsemen will without doubt indignantly deny the latter imputation While English and French ones will as indignantly deny the former formerWhat What then is the truth of the matter Personally I believe it to be largely what I ventured formerly to suggest In the first place the inordinate racing of twoyearolds tends to develop roguery cowardice and unreliability in them In the second place while presentday trainers may be as good as we have ever had presentday jockeys I do not for a moment consider to rank with those of former decades With all due defer ¬ ence to the Sandes Fators and other heroes of the hour that they will live in turf his ¬ tory with the best men of the past men like McLaughlin Garrison Isaac Murphy Hay ward Fitzpatrick Taral the Reiffs Maher Martin Burns Sloan Miller etc who can believe believeThe The truth is that the present system of racing discourages the production of great riders When racing with a small percent ¬ age of exceptions consists of a steady and invanaoie succession of sprints the great majority of them at distances of seven eighths or less what opportunity has a boy to learn in the school of great jockeyship He has just one task To beat the barrier if possible be off as if his life depended on reaching the first eighth post before any ¬ body else and to keep agoing fulltilt till his gas runs out Nothing else really mat ¬ ters that is in most races Or so one would infer from watching the modern jock ¬ ey perform performHIAXY HIAXY JOCKEYS SPOILED SPOILEDThat That many good natural jockeys are spoiled by this system seems certain That many good horses are is something that goes with ¬ out saying Add to this the immense sums of money hung up for stakes and purses and the much more immense sums wagered upon the results of these sprints and you have really no reason to seek farther for an explanation explanationRacing Racing as conducted upon American tracks in this twentieth century has ceased to be a sport It is a business of which the beall and endall is Get the money As an ex ¬ ample of the spirit that now reigns nothing could be more illustrative than the action of a certain wellknown owner in connec ¬ tion with a notable race won by one of his horses The money value of this event was great in fact it was tremendous and to the winner was also to go a gold cup worth several thousands of dollars It was arranged with a celebrated firm of goldsmiths that after the race the owner of the victor was to visit their establishment and select a trophy which suited his taste The club that sponsored the race was then to pay for the articleA article A GOLDSMITHS WATCHFUL WAITING WAITINGThe The race came and went National atten ¬ tion centered upon it and it was exploited to the limit in every possible way including the movies Thereafter the weeks passed and the firm of goldsmiths waited and waited for the winners owner to pay them a visit but like the letter in the ballad for which the expectant maiden ate out her heart he never came Finally they communicated with the club which had staged the race and divulged the situation The club thereupon addressed the proud owner reminding him that his trophy awaited his pleasure pleasureWhereupon Whereupon they received an immediate answer from him stating briefly that he cared nothing whatever for any such thing but would be greatly obliged if they would forward him its cash value instead Which they accordingly did The sentiments plus the language of the goldsmiths have not been recorded Doubtless they were strong and possibly unfit for publication like the works of Petronius and Casanova i e classic classicAs As the owner alluded to was is a rich man it could not have been urgent financial need that prompted his action No it was just the getthemoney spirit that is the spirit of the times Perhaps if American racing were more of a sport and less of a commercial enterprise some things might be different Our races might not be so exclu ¬ sively sprints our trainers and jockeys might use different methods and our horses race more cleanly
