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THAT OHIO CIRCUIT Two Additional Tracks Make Dftts Schedule a Problem. Crying Need for a Central Governing Body Becomes More and More Apparent. CINCINNATI, Ohio, Dec. 7 With the promised addition of two more tracks to t.be Ohio circuit for the racing season of. 1925 there becomes a date schedule that is something of a problem. During 1924 there was racing in Ohio at Youngstown, Maple Heights, in Cleveland ; Akron, Columbus, Toledo and the Brooklyn Driving Park in Cleveland. Now there ia to be another Cleveland track in Thistle Down, while Coney Island, the Cincinnati track, promises to bo in the circuit. Witli the complement of tracks that operated in 1921 there was virtually continuous racing in Ohio from early spring until late fall, with several conflicts, yet two otheis will have to be taken care of in 1925. Then there was racing at Wheeling and Huntington, the West Virginia tracks, that might well be considered in the Ohio sector, while Illinois, with its Chicago racing at Hawthorne and Aurora, was close enough at hand to be considered in the general circuit. The racing has been growing marvelously in the middle west, with the other addition of Raceland to the Kentucky circuit and at this time there does not seem to be any disposition on the part of the existing race courses to make way for the new ventures. All of this might easily occasion some confusion of racing time and many conflicts in dates that would be, to say the least, embarassing. DATES FOR 3rAPLE HEIGHTS. Maple Heights has already announced its spring dates from May 9 until May 30 for next year, while the other Cleveland track, the Brooklyn Driving Club, is out with an announcement of racing time from June 0 to June 13. And J. McMillen, who is the ruling spirit of Thistle Down, the new Cleveland track, promises to conduct his meeting from August 1 to August 22. So much for the sport that will be served up to the faithful at Cleveland. It comprises a season that will keep that city well supplied and that only takes, care of the spring and summer, with the various other close at hand Ohio tracks still to be heard from. Hawthorne, in Chicago, long ago made known plans for a fifty-eight-day meeting to begin July 2 and continue until September 7, and Aurora promises to have a long season over its track. In the meantime the Kentucky racing dates have been allotted and the one particular meeting that offers the most serious conflict to the Ohio sport is that at Latonia. The meeting there will be conducted from June 2 to July 4, with a second meeting from September 12 to October 17. It would be suicidal for the Coney Island meeting to attempt to compete with the racing at Latonia and the problem comes of fitting in that meeting to the best advantage with the dates that have already been announced. IMPORTANCE OF CONEY ISLAND. It is known that the Coney Island track has selected dates for 1925, though there has been no public announcement of that racing time. But it is safe to say that a conflict with Latonia has been avoided, and at the same time a season will be had that will fit in with the shipping plans of horsemen to the best advantage. Less has been said about this Coney Island track than of many of the other new ones, but at the same time it gives promise of playing a decidedly important part in the 1925 schedules. It is a racing ground that is of vital interest to the sportsmen of Cincinnati and it has every reason to quickly become one of the most successful of all the Ohio racing grounds. It is unfortunate that there is no central governing body in Ohio to take care of the question of dates so that a schedule could be arranged that would be fair to all the tracks. Whenever there is a central body it is the custom for the representatives of the various associations to come to an agreement on the division of the time and that agreement is invariably ratified by the governing body. Whether or not any amicable agreement could be reached that would take in all of the various Ohio tracks for 1925 is a question, but unless there is a working agreement among them all it is almost inevitable that there will be confusion .and probably some disastrous conflicts in racing time. Ohio has shown that it will bountifully support its racing and there may be excellent reason for the various tracks that have opened in recent years, but it is a high time when there was tmore of a community of interest in the conduct of the sport in the state. This is demanded for the good of the turf, for the success of the meetings and for the convenience of the patrons themselves.
