view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Victory in Louisiana. Punishing the Offenders. Importance of Registration. Keeping the Record Right. € ? Evidence of the stability of racing in Louisiana was given this week when the sport scored five distinct victories over those who would embarrass it by prohibitive legislation. The turf has always been a shining mark for attack and it is no new thing to have a fight to wage. As a matter of fact it is unusual when there is any session of tha legislature in many of the states without racing having to defend itself against these attacks. And that is the pity of it, for racing too often is put on the defensive, when there is nothing that needs defense. There is nothing in the sport that should bring about the attacks, but they come with disquieting regularity and thus it is that the turf is put in the false position of defending. Those who seek to break down the greatest of all open air sports should be the ones to prove their case. They should be made to defend their position, but too often there has been the attitude that racing is guilty until proved innocent, rather than innocent until proved guilty. But, fortunately, in recent years public opinion towards the sport has undergone a marked change. With the education of the people to the fine, clean manner in which it is conducted, where it is within the law, there has come a new conception of racing and it is constantly growing in public favor. In Louisiana three of the measures that were defeated sought to prohibit the wagering on races and there were two others that sought to make the sport a question of local option for the parishes. There seems to be less intolerance year after year and with it has come j better days for racing. Just so long as the sport is conducted along real sporting lines, conditions will continue to improve until it will become unfashionable, to say the least, for anyone to find fault. There is much to commend in the action of the stewards of The Jockey Club in continuing the punishment of those concerned in the altogether unnatural j manner in which Ceylon Prince improved from one race to another. At the time this unnatural improvement was shown, the Aqueduct stewards took prompt action against the jockey and the stable and now the whole matter has been reviewed by the stewards of The Jockey Club, with the result that a ruling was made whereby further entries from the Dyker Stable were ordered refused; jockey Bullmans license was continued suspended and the training license cf J. Gilbert was also suspended. This action was taken after a thorough, investigation of the whole affair and, on the surface, it appears to be a deserved punishment. It is always regretted when a jockey is convicted of fraud, but, as a matter of fact, the turf will lose little if Bullman is never seen in the saddle again. He has never been a jockey of real ability and, apart from his share in the Ceylon Prince affair, he showed no signs of becoming other than a particularly ordinary jockey. The owners of the Dyker Stable naturally have to file the partnership with The Jockey Club and the action of the stewards is not merely against a name, it is an action against individuals, and it would be well if it was an action that would mean indefinite suspension. Too often the offenders are reinstated, after a short term of expulsion, only to beccme bolder in their operations. The two races run by Ceylon Prince were run in the fashion that brought about these punishments for the benefit of some individuals. Some of these had no stable connection and they should also be banished. The Jockey Club steadfastly takes no cognizance of betting, but, of course, the fraudulent running of the horse could only bring returns by way of betting and that is where the further investigation might uncover others who were mixed up in the whole affair. From the manner in which foals of 1928 are being registered with the Daily Racing Form Bureau, it would appear that the crop is to be a tremendously big one. There are always some of the breeders who fail to make these registrations promptly, but most of them appreciate the importance of this registration and returns have been coming in daily. When this free bureau of registration was installed by Daily Racing Form it was for the express purpose of giving credit where the credit is due and breeders generally appreciate its advantage. Too often breeders have sold weanlings without going through the formality of registering them with The Jockey Club. Later these same weanlings are sold by the original purchaser, as yearlings, and this purchaser has frequently registered as their breeder. A notable case of this sort was in the registration of the good filly Friars Carse. She was purchased by Samuel D. Riddle, when he bought her dam, Problem, with the filly foal at her side. There had been no registration of the foal with The Jockey Club, and later Friars Carse was registered with Mr. Riddle as the breeder. Such errors in registration cannot be guarded against fully by The Jockey Club, but with the Daily Racing Form Bureau, if the breeders will register the foals as they are born, the credit will always go exactly where it is due. That is reason enough for the bureau doing a big thing in keeping the breeding record right. W. B. Miller of the Greenwich Stud ■ made rather an important sale when he disposed of the two-year-old chestnut son of Golden Guinea and the Ultimus mare Pond Lily to W. Averill Harriman, who races under the name of the Arden Farms Stable. This colt has been named i Trent onian and he has not yet been 1 brought to the races. This colt is intended for tats raciriK about New York and is expected to be a valuable addition i to the two-year-old colony.
