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5 r Here and There 6 7 on the Turf i 1 Zev Eaces Like a Non- 2 3 Stayer. 4 Laxity of Eastern Track 5 Discipline. 6 Stewards Should Not Mod- I - ify Rulings. While Zev raced with great speed when he won the Rainbow Handicap at Jamaica Tues day, it must be admitted that when he was worked out to a mile and an eighth it could not be considered as an impressive trial for ! the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby. The son of The Finn is beyond question a sprinter of high speed, but he did not finish out the mile and an eighth in a manner to suggest ability to beat good ones at a mile and a quarter. In the race at Churchill Downs on Saturday Zev will hardly be required to race the first three quarters in 1 .12, but in both of his winning races this year, the Paumonok and Rainbow Handicap, sprinting speed is all he has shown. He is gifted with extreme speed, but seemingly when he reaches the three-quarters mark he has gone about as far as he cares to race. In the running of the Preakness Stakes Zev did not even show the speed that, has marked his Jamaica racing, but it was so plainly below his form in both the Paumonok and Rainbow Handicap that it must be thrown out altogether. Sam Hildreth knows his horses , and has elected to send Zev to Louisville, but, on his public showing, it is hard to believe that he will beat a truly good horse over such i a distance as a mile and a quarter. The stewards at Jamaica erred when they reduced a recent suspension inflicted on La verne Fator of the Rancocas Stab!e riding r staff in order that he might ride for his employer, Mr. Sinclair. The error was apparent when on Tuesday Mr. Sinclair made a request I that a second suspension that was inflicted 1 on the same rider be reduced in order that t he might ride in the Kentucky Derby Saturday. If the first request for a shortening of a sentence had not been granted there would 1 have been no subsequent request and in a measure the reinstatement of Fator established a precedent. That was an error, for the shortening of Fators sentence is sure to bring about many f a similar request during the year. This second request for the reinstatement of Fator, in order . that he might rid? in the Kentucky Derby, i was denied, but the stewards should never have e placed themselves in a position where they would have to even entertain such a request. Punishments that are inflicted by the racing stewards, unless they punish, do not amount t to anything. If it is possible to have a jockey p reinstated when he is needed for this or that t big stake race the stewards would also lose e power to punish adequately and their rulings s would become a joke. Horsemen who have the best interests of i the turf at heart, and not their own selfish b ends, will readily realize the importance of A having the stewards supported in all their acts. i. The stewards may err and they have erred d on various occasions, but they are supreme on n t p t e s i b A i. d n the race course and their rulings must be upheld if there is to be the clean racing that demands the respect and confidence of the public. It is possible at any time for the Jockey Club to change its stewards of a meeting, but no matter who the stewards are that may be in charge they are supreme whib acting. It is a thankless job to sit in judgment of racing and from the beginning it has always been open season for stewards, but the whole fabric of racing depends on the integrity of the men in this high position, and if they do not measure up to the job they should be re moved. It was all a mistake to have shortened the 5 original Fator sentence, but the stewards were , wel within their rights when they refused for r I a second time to reinstate the same rider be- " fore his sentence had been served. When Fly by Day won from August Belmonts - good filly How Fair at Jamaica Tues- - I day there was another striking example of the 1 benefit that comes from actual racing as 3 measured against the private training. Fly by f Day had been seasoned in racing during her r Maryland campaign and it made the difference. . How Fair had done about all that Louis s Feustel had asked of her in her preparation for r the races. She went to the post a remarkably v " - - 1 3 f r . s r v fit filly and she ran a good race. But there was lacking that razor edge that can only come through racing. No matter how accomplished a trainer may be in fitting his horse, any one of them is better for "having a race under his belt." It is probable that How Fair will turn the tables on Fly by Day the next time the pair meet, and she may go on beating the Whitney filly all through the year, but she lacked the condition that was acquired by the Whitney miss through her campaigning in Maryland.
