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Cassidy, Vosburgh Testify at Hearing Two Stewards Reiterate History of Merritt Case Previously Told by Dunne NEIV YORK, N. Y.. April 20.— Jockey Robert Merritts desperate effort to resume his riding career may be frustrated by a power mightier than the New York State Racing Commission and The Jockey Club. Today Merritt, who is 1-A. received orders from his draft board to report for a pre-induction physical examination. Merritt is Zl years old. NEW YORK, N. Y.. April 20.— The second act of the Merritt hearing, a drama of indeterminate length, provided few surprises last night at the State Building on Centre Street. The greater part of the four-hour session before the joint board of The Jockey Club and State Racing Commission, presided over by commission chairman. Herbert Bayard Swope. with Ashley T. Cole also sitting for the state board and stewards Joseph E. Davis and Alfred H. Morris, representing The Jockey Club, was devoted to testimony by Harold O. Vosburgh and Marshall Cassidy. These gentlemen, with Francis P. Dunne, comprised the three "stewards of the meeting* at Empire City in July, 1942. when jockey Bobby Merritt is alleged to have pulled" the horse. Peep Show, on two occasions, then ridden him "like Sande come back again." as Dunne declared Tuesday evening, when the horse was backed down to favoritism. Three Points to Cross-Examination Vosburgh and Cassidy were called by attorney Kenneth Greenawalt, red-haired young lawyer for The Jockey Club. From each of these witnesses, Greenawalt obtained a review of the races in question as 1 they saw them, and their reasons for telling Merritt to ply his trade elsewhere after the races of July 17. Attorney William j Seligson. representing Merritt, interposed numerous objections to what he termed 1 improper and leading" questions, and took an uncounted number of exceptions to 1 chairman Swopes denial of these objections. In general, the Vosburgh and Cassidy testimony was a repitition of that provided I by Dunne on Tuesday evening, which can 1 be summarized as a statement that, in the stewards opinion, supported by patrol ■ judge Myron Davis, who was stationed at the head of the Empire City stretch, Merritt did not ride to win on July 6 and 9 J and rode with energy on July 16. Both declared that they had received reports that Merritt was guilty of touting and owning horses, and had a generally dubious repu- ; Continued on Page Three j » * . [ 1 i J •s y s .- d s, e. = Cassidy, Vosburgh Testify at Hearing Two Stewards Reiterate History of Merritt Case Previously Told by Dunne Continued from Page One tation, but did not give the source of these reports on Seligsons demand. Again, as on Tuesday evening, Seligsons cross-examination of the stewards centered on three points: That Peep Show had run a series of even poorer races under such jockeys as Arcaro, Loveridge, Meade and Clingman before Merritt rode ; that the testimony regarding Merritts character, his touting and ownership of horses, was based on rumors and not the stewards direct knowledge and that Merritt was permitted to ride his mounts of July 17 and was never suspended. On the latter point, Vosburgh said in response to questions by Seligson that Merritt was never formally suspended and that the stewards "thought they did him a kindness," adding that his chances of earning a living were not impaired, as he could go elsewhere. Asked if the stewards did not consider it wrong to permit a jockey whom they had decided was riding dishonestly to ride in other states, Vosburgh said they did not give a thought to that aspect. He added, "Perhaps that was our error, but our intentions were good." Loveridge and Arcaro Take Stand Jockeys Loveridge and Arcaro were called to the stand by Seligson. Loveridge. in a muted voice, told Merritts lawyer, "I always try," then said of Peep Show, "He quit." Arcaro, speaking more briskly, said, "I always done my utmost, but the horse couldnt run." Arcaro added that Peep Show had early speed, but quit. Vosburgh, Cassidy and Dunne, who were recalled briefly by Seligson early in the evening, all declared in varying terms, but categorically, that it was still their opinion that it was not in the best interests of racing to allow Bobby Merritt a license to ride in 1944 Seligson also made much of a phrase in Marshall Cassidys testimony at the hearing held at Aqueduct race track last June, in which he declared that the patrol judges had reported independently that Merritt was riding improperly at their stations. The lawyer contrasted the plural use of the words "judges" and "stations" and the word "independently" in that testimony with the fact that only Myron Davis report is mentioned at this hearing. Cassidy said that the term "patrol judges" is a general one and can refer to one or more patrol judges. Cassidy also said that it was his original impression that another patrol judge also had reported adversely on Merritts riding, but that only Davis now recalls having made such a report. Questioned by Greenawalt, Cassidy said of Merritts general reputation, "his reputation as I have heard it. he touts, which is bad for a jockey, he keeps bad company, and I have heard that he bets on horses other than those he rides." Answering an interjection by Chairman Swope, Cassidy said he had not heard that Merritt bet on other horses in races in which he was riding. Trainer Asked to Leave, Too Cassidy also testified that Trainer Joe Bauer, who had Peep Show in his care, was asked to leave the New York tracks at the same time Merritt was told to go, but added that he believed Bauer had come back in the fall of 1942. Cassidy stated that in the spring of 1943. when Merritt applied for a license to ride for Alfred Decozen, New Jersey owner, he told trainer "Tobe" Trotter that it would be all right for Merritt to apply, but he didnt know what the result would be. Cassidy said that stewards Vosburgh and Dunne disapproved the granting of the license and the "majority ruled." Cassidy said that he did not actually vote on the matter as the negative votes of the other two stewards would have made any vote of his, ineffective in any case. Chairman Swope then asked if Cassidy was at that time willing to give Merritt a license, and Cassidy said "No," but that he had been willing to discuss it with an open mind. Trainer Frank Kearns, for whom Merritt is now working as an exercise boy at 50 a month, was called to the stand by Selig- son. He testified that Merritt had ridden for him eight years ago and again at Bowie in 1942, and that he never found any reason to suspect his honesty. Trainer Jim Hastie, the first witness of the evening testified that to the best of his knowledge the horse Double B., whom he trained was owned by Mrs. A. Wesley, of Philadelphia, and that he received the horse from the L. H. Nimkoff farm. Under cross-examination by Greenawalt, he said he had not actually seen the ownership papers. In Marshall Cassidys testimony later in the evening it developed that the stewards had suspected Bobby Merritt of actually owning Double B. The session ended on a reiteration by Cassidy that he was "dubious" whether a boy who did what he Cassidy thought Merritt did should be allowed to ride.
