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. . Here and There on the Turf , 4 Doubtless when the Maryland rule was ! enacted to elose the mutuel machines when 1 a field of horses passed the judges stand in the parade to the post the intent was to offer some improvement to the sport. Thus far at Bowie the rule seems to be a bad one and one that works something of a hard- , ship on the trainers and the horses. It has amounted to something of a horse show before the running of each race and an unnatural delay in arriving at the starting post. Each field is made to travel much further . than is necessary before reaching tne post, and in that it is unfair to the horses and decidedly tedious to the racing crowd, even though it may afford a longer time after the horses reach the track before the machines are closed. In races at less than a mile distance the horses, after leaving the paddock, are paraded to the upper end of the grandstand, turned and paraded back and then go to the post. This means passing the grandstand twice and there is no real objection to this except in the half-mile dashes for the two-year-olds. "With them it means that they cannot proceed to !the post the short way after" reaching the tipper end of the grandstand, but they are turned for the second trip past the judges stand. But in races of a greater distance than a mile it seems ridiculous that the horses, after passing in parade to the upper end of the grandstand are turned and marched to the lower turn. Then they are brought back to proceed to the starting post. That is what constitutes something of a horse show before the post is reached. There does not seem to be any good reason for this and in the case of a horse carrying the top weight or one of a nervous temperament it is a real hardship. This parading up and down before a big crowd may easily upset the horses and the one that is carrying a big Weight is put to an unfair exertion before the actual contest These horses have been entered to be raced and not to be paraded in review for the edification of the crowd. All rules of racing require that each starter must carry his weight to the post and that there shall be a parade by the judges stand, but the rule never contemplated the marching up and down of the horses until they have been by the stand twice before heading to the starting post. Attention is called to the way in which the new rule is interpreted at Bowie now, in the hope that it may be in some manner amended and made more fair before the end of the spring season in Maryland at least. It seems to be a rule that was enacted to govern the closing of the mutuel machines, rather than a rule to, in any sense, further the sport itself. All rules for the sport should take consideration of the running of the races over any regulation that has to do with the speculation. This is just one more argument in favor of limiting the powers of a racing commission and preventing any such body having a voice in the actual conduct of the sport. The powers of any racing commission should begin and end with the issuing of licenses to racing associations and seeing to , it that the legal tax from the sport is collected. There is no good reason for them having any further authority and many good reasons for their powers ending with those , duties. There are no demands on a racing knowledge to serve on a racing commission, and it requires a complete understanding of the , sport to properly fill the high office with the vast powers that are granted in both t Maryland and Kentucky. No matter how carefully a racing commission may strive to fill the office, no matter the degree of integrity of the government, it I is a body that is not qualified to sit in judgment . on the actual racing or in judgment on the men of the turf. None of this is meant as any reflection on i Maryland, or the Kentucky State Racing j Commission. The fault is in the law itself I and the unusual powers that are conferred on a body of men who need never be selected I for their knowledge of the sport itself. In Illinois the law, under which racing is ; conducted, is infinitely better in this respect. "While in Kentucky and Maryland it is the ; racing commissioners who grant the licenses 3 to owners and trainers, and act as a court t of last resort, in Illinois the Commissioner of Agriculture issues the licenses to the j racing association and the Illinois Turf Association I takes care of the licensing of the 3 jockeys and trainers and is the court of last t resort. Then in New York there is a like government . of racing with the stewards of The 3 ! 1 , . , , , t I . i j I I ; ; 3 t j I 3 t . 3 Jockey Club taking care of the actual racing. The Illinois Turf Association, like The Jockey Club in New York, is composed of men of racing experience and in close association with the sport. They have a knowledge of racing and an interest in racing that qualifies them above others to govern. They are at no time political appointees and their only interest is in upholding the integrity of the sport. And it is not a. question of the integrity of the gentlemen of both the Maryland and the Kentucky State Racing Commissions. It is really not a question of their knowledge of the sport, but the point is raised that there is absolutely no question of knowledge of racing required of a member of either commission. There is no reason for their being so vitally interested .as are the stewards of The Jockey Club, or the members of the Illinois Turf Asociation. Rules for the conduct of the sport, and the : licensing of those who play a part in the sport, must always be in the hands of sportsmen who, through long association with the thoroughbred and the men of the turf, are best qualified to rule wisely and well. Racing must always be paramount and there must be no rules of speculation no matter what the method, that will in any remote manner have an effect on the racing. After all, the speculation is only an incident of racing. It is a necessary incident, but it ! remains an incident and there must not be rules of racing to suit any such incident. All through the spring season until the running of the Preakness of the Maryland Jockey Club at Pimlico May 9, and the decision of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, Louisville, May 17, there will be great interest in the doings of the eligibles for these big classics. One or both of these prizes is the big objective for most of the best of the new crop of three-year-olds and there is not a one of the lot afthis time that hasproven a quality to race for the mile and tfiree-sixteenths of the Preakness nor the mile and a quarter of the Derby. The mile stakes and the mile and a sixteenth prizes for the juveniles run last fall may have offered some sort of a line, but, after all, it is not dependable to point positively to a staying quality. There have been two-year-olds of other seasons that won a Walden, a Pimlico Futurity or a Queens City Handicap that after all proved sprinters when asked to go on as three-year-olds. Then there have been others which were put to no such tests as juveniles that developed unexpected staying qualities as three-year-olds. The winning post Is the only test of the thoroughbred anu reputations are only made in actual contest. There will be various of the candidates for the big three-year-old prizes that will be tried out in actual racing during April and something like a line will be had on the crop, but at this time it does not do to put too much reliance in juvenile excellence in predicting three-year-old greatness. In the fall of the year, with form thoroughly established, there is not the same zest to the sport. There is less chance for some unusual development. The juvenile line is the only line on the new three-yar-olds which rested through the winter months, and it will be followed until the new line is established, but each year there always becomes necessary a revision of estimates as the racing progresses. Siskin, this son of Epinard, that established himself as the best two-year-old to race on the Pacific Coast by taking down the Agua Caliente Futurity, is one of the notable baby thoroughbreds at Bowie. Richard F. Carmen, Jr., who has Siskin in his care, has an abiding faith in his charge and the fact that he made the long trip across the continent without incident or accident, gives reason for that faith. Since his arrival at Bowie, Siskin has at- tfacted some attention and it is probable he will prove himself the best youngster to ar- rive from a winter racing ground. He has been named for the Kindergarten Stakes. With the close of the racing at both St. Johns Park in Florida and Jefferson Park in New Orleans many of the stables moved on to the Wheeling meeting, which is to be-i gin April 9 and continue until April 26. This meeting has a greater importance than any other ever conducted at Wheeling and its big headline feature is known as the Golden Jubilee Derby, a test of a mile and a six- teenth, to which ,000 is added. At both St. Johns Park and Jefferson the meetings brought to conclusion recently were seriously handicapped by almost unprecedented inclement weather. At St. Johns Park there, was an altogether unusual number of rainy days and they came along when they did the most harm, when specially pre- pared programs were all but drowned out. William V. Dwyer had no hope of any financial gain when he took over St. Johns Park, but he was surely entitled to a bit better luck in the matter of weather. He was in no sense discouraged over the results and already is making plans for another meeting and some improvements to the Florida course.
