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THE JUDGES STAND Bv Charles Hatton Stones Speech Enlightening Turfs Inflation of Platers NEW YORK N Y May 13 13As As one who rises each morning to face the Blue Grass and salaam three times this observer is pleased to report that a hard boot James C Stone injected some ¬ thing cerebral into the routine humdrum of the NARCS recent Gotham conference Stone is president oflhe Thoroughbred Club of America a thing that arouses our interest in that unostentatious group of Kentucky horsemen Stone enlightened the assembled turf solons about a situation that is a pernicious boll weevil of the rhbred breeding industry He pointed out that a 60 per cent of Americas Charles Hatton No Parking Hurts Sport Old vs New Racing Heroes thoroughbreds are grown by farmers who combine agri ¬ culture with horse breeding and b the sums realized for farm produce are soaring while those realized for yearlings are tobogganing at an alarming rate If no relief is forthcoming it is inevitable production will be greatly reduced he warned Stone did not prescribe any quack panacea But he did urge that all major race tracks adopt New York associations program of breeders awards graduating these prizes and the purse values to conform to the quality of the fields This he said would tend to alleviate the disturbing situation faced by thoroughbred breeders and would have the effect also of renewing their efforts to produce a better grade of horses horsesStone Stone did not imply breeders are lax in their purpose of improving the thoroughbred However if they did take a lackadaisical attitude in the matter we should not be much surprised For a useful 1500 plater is a more valuable animal actually than is the average 4000 horse under the present cock ¬ eyed racing system in vogue in America AmericaTrainers Trainers are as poignantly aware of this as are the breeders of course Only recently they met with a TRA committee to advocate a readjustment of purse values to eliminate this inflation of the worth of the platers and make more opportunities for middle grade horses Harry Parr Pimlicos thoroughly understanding president proposes to introduce a new more equitable graduation of purse values on the Hilltop in the fall when a generous measure of the net proceeds from the recent unexpectedly successful spring meeting will be shared with horsemen horsemenA A few kibitzers seemed to think the Maryland Jockey Club spring purses should have been increased on a retroactive basis when it became obvious the meeting would finish happily in the black But that procedure would have been in sharp direct contrast to the economic principles that impel associations to regrade purses For an unusual quota of the horses active at Pimlicos spring season were equine oakies refugees from Marylands halfmilers halfmilersIt It is one thing to conceive a regulation prohibiting the American public from driving to a race track It is quite another to enforce it A classic comedy of errors has developed what is technically known as a mess at Belmont Park In the first place the LIRJI spur to Belmonts entrance might possibly have been utilized excepting for an incredibly undiplomatic hitch in proceedings proceedingsUse Use of this spur would have made the Nassau County course accessible as Jamaica or Aqueduct and would have discouraged driving to the track What with the dismal weather and the distance seveneighths of a mile from the track to the Queens Village station those with A cards and suffi ¬ cient gas have been inclined to take the natural alternative alternativeThe The net result is candidly identically the same as every other race track which has quixotically essayed to police the public either voluntarily or to humor the local authorities The public has the final word in the matter And the public too obviously refuses to be deprived of its legal right to use its amusementdriving quota of gas in attending the races racesTracks Tracks close their parking lots Police patrol the streets with their pockets bulging over with timeparking summonses So the public calmly rents garages garagesHempstead Hempstead and Nassau County officials have been in frequent conference search ¬ ing for a solution The only sensible fair solution is to recpgnize the racegoing publics rights and admit A cars to the track parking lots We have no doubt that when New York associations announced a closed parking lot policy they felt they were protecting the future of racing in the state Tile moral is that the surest way to protect racings future is to first consider the public publicThe The tumultuous transportation situatioji at Belmont Park may have repercussions at Empire City And it may also have some bearing on the site chosen for Saratogas dispossessed meeting meetingIt It is considered smart to summarize this A card transit system the public has set up at Belmont Park with the remark that the public has got out of hand That is not quite accurate If anyone is out of hand it is those optimistic authorities who sought to impose upon Americans anything so fantastically unAmerican in the first place it seems to us usThe The closed parkinglot policy we are afraid is too closely akin to that other noble experiment the Volstead Act The sporting press has been cluttered up frequently of late with sentimental balderdash comparing present and past turf positions And some of the arguments advanced by the professionawaybackwheners in their literary lacyvalentines are apathetic if not hostile to the facts factsWe We have no quarrel with those who admire Man o War Old Rosebud Sir Barton Grey Lag and their fellows We liked them too But when it comes to comparing them with recent champions to the latters discredit that is carrying it a bit too far farAny Any practical horseman is aware that the aspiring champion today is subjected to more exactingdemands on his quality and durability durabilityFor For one thing there is the saliva and urinalysis test And we can think of a good many of those fond heroes of past decades we rather doubt could pass them themFor For another thing there are at least twice as many horses in training now as there were 20 or 30 years back which makes it precisely that much more difficult to develop a standout To illustrate this point let us telescope our view to the Civil War turf and the immortal Kentucky He was a stand ¬ out but among only 300 or 400 head of horses horsesFor For still another thing it should be remembered that winter racing now has assumed an importance almost equal to that of summer racing so that it is not uncommon for the best horses to be kept almost constantly in active training trainingThe The widest disparity is in the campaigning of championship contenders Colin and Man o War set up performance records remarkably free of defeats But neither raced before May 18 nor after October 16 Colin ran only three times at three never shipping outside of New York YorkMan Man o War put in a career of just two fivemonth campaigns and probably would be considered a glasscake champion today
