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Charles Hatton THE JUDGES STAND Bv Charles Hat ton The Commissaire s Opinion Empire Move Grows Involved Aqueduct Course Unpopular Lincoln Fields Looks Ahead NEW YORK N Y June 4 4The The forum on the disqualification rules a highly inflammable subject may never be really persuasive and we fear has only intensified the irreconcilable East is East and West is West character of the whole thing Nevertheless it has ignited some luminous cerebral bonfires among some of racings best informed and most experienced officials We are indebted to Hapry A Buck who has seen much of racing over the world for this latest spark which comes from La Belle France Few of our aiiHiAtirA nrnhahlv know of James Hennessey Buck describes him as a gentleman of the old school with uptodate ideas In addition to making the famous Hennessey Brandy through a firm founded in 1763 in the province of Cognac by one of his ancestors a retired Irish officer of the English army James Hennessey was a senator of France Bwhen Buck was at Deauville in August 39 and had for 29 of his 70 odd years been steward of the Societe dEncouragement as the French Jockey Club is called He also found time to be a successful breeder and owner of thoroughbreds thoroughbredsIn In 1909 Hennessey won the English Grand National at Aintree with his homebred Lutteur III and in 1926 captured the Grand Prix de Paris with Take My Tip This colt was so lightly esteemed he was 501 and so confidently ridden by jockey Jen from the finish line to raise his whip in salute to Club presidents stand Hennessey is a grand old man of French racing and one of the most colorful figures and respected stewards in its history a sort of European judge Brice We believe we might have omitted this intro duction however and American horsemen reading his opinions would recognize them as unmistakably the product of an incisive racing mind On the controversial subject of the New York disqualification rule Hennessey opines A horse disqualified in the United States and in England according to your Jockey Club rules is dropped back to last place We find that in many cases two horses interfere with each other near the finish line they being frequently separated from the rest of the field by some lengths we therefore often disqualify the offender but place him second instead of last unless the foul seems intentional This action is subject to the discretion of the stewards and seems to me personally the fairest decision in the matter providing the stewards know their job It seems somehow apropos here to insert a juicy morsel from a noted western steward He writes The rule on fouls that now obtains in New York was handed down to us from the autocratic English Jockey Club and was written when bookmaking was the only form of betting in England and at least 90 per cent of the betting was straight betting At that time jockeys were not compelled to ride their mounts out if they found they could not win the place and show having so little interest Commissaire Hennessey is interesting also on the subject of assumed names He notes that in France As in England assumed names are allowed which is of benefit to the general public in an informative way and helps andhelps to keep out of racing the undesirable element which is too prevalent in the United States I judge by my recent reading on the subject Moreover we think that any man that desires to keep secret his connections with racing for business reasons should not be permitted to race except in his own name Speaking of the French turf as his country was about to be drawn into World War II Hennessey said Racing will in time be reinvigorated and restored to its former great popularity and high position in the world of French sport The excellent Herbert Bayard Swope a little bewildered notes that the New York State Racing Commission has not yet been consulted regarding the transfer of Empire Citys meeting to Jamaica As this observer has pointed out the Metropolitan Jockey Club site presents the maximum opportunity of reaping state revenue at minimum use of rationed transportation facilities Interested bystanders wonder how many complexities are going to involve that seemingly simple and logical procedure We procedureWe are reminded that Empire is outside the Gotham bailiwick whereas Jamaica Is within its somewhat unfriendly boundaries which is a factor some consider rather portentous Perhaps it is merely another manifestation of an uninhibited impertinence but it does seem that this matter of Aqueducts remarkable unpopular racing strip and the bottle necks in the stands at that and other Metropolitan New York courses might concern the New York turf solons solonsHorsemen Horsemen are reluctant putting it mildly to race worthwhile per ¬ formers over the Queens County Jockey Club surface particularly when it is wet It is contended that the abrupt home turn which shelves away from the hot corner is not conducive to formful competition Moreover that this inauspicious feature and the hard surface when the course is wet tends to create unsoundness unsoundnessThe The vaunted seating capacities of New York stands are meaningless because of bottle necks in most of these structures that make for traffic jams which if it is of any interest at all to the parties concerned adversely affects the tote business on Saturdays and holidays Floridas Senate has passed the bill prohibiting competitive dates at courses within a radius of 100 miles of one another and now the measure goes to Governor Holland for his signature which seemingly is assured The Everglades states bougainvilleabordered courses rather poignantly did not absorb their 194243 dates but associations and the state government are looking optimistically to the future The season onjhe palmy peninsula has been officially extended 20 racing days by advancing the opening from December 10 to the first and moving back the closing date from April 10 to April 20 20All All this apparently makes room for Gulfstream Park which has been acquired by a group including Harold Clark George Langford and James Bonn the former familiar as the owner of Riverland and the latter two gentlemen as directors in Tropical Park Lincoln FieldsatHawthorne has proven so unexpectedly successful Col Matt Winn and his associates decided to increase the purse values In these tumultuous times when clubs may not retain any appreciable profit anyway the horsemens expenses are steadily mounting Chicago tracks particularly Arlington and Washington Parks have shown a commendable disposition to share the proceeds of racings increased vogue vogueThis This era of opulent opportunities for overnight racers should be accom ¬ panied by a new scale of purse values that is more commensurate with the worth of the horses We realize this is a threadbare theme but intend to keep pummciing the subject because it is extremely important that racing avoid inflation of platers worth at the expense of the earning capacities of better grade animals
