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yK ■*and BETWEEN RACES byosca*ot,s PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 15. — The week of the Preakness is one of the most exciting anywhere in the world. It is a week of intense activity and the event attracts people from almost everywhere. Mellow traditions add to the enjoyment of visitors from out of town, and Bal-timoreans timoreans are are intensely intensely proud proud of of the the timoreans are are intensely intensely proud proud of of the the ancient plant. The natives virtually forced the Maryland Jockey Club to abandon plans to scuttle the place and settle at Laurel. Perhaps the next 75 runnings of the Preakness will be on the same scene, but when building restrictions are lifted, Pimlico will be torn down and a new modernistic plant will take its place. All but the old clubhouse, that is, for it will be allowed to stand in creaking splendor as a link with the past. The influence of the Maryland Jockey Club on American racing has been tremendous, so if Pimlico officials, and a great many citizens as well, wish to preserve the air of antiquity, they well may be pardoned. The Maryland Jockey Club was founded in Annapolis in 1743, and while it has been moribund on occasions, it never expired. It was the club, of course, which sponsored the building of the present Pimlico as the site for the Dinner Party Stakes, won by Preakness, whose name is immortalized by the race. The Dinner Party Stakes later became the Dixie. At the original track of the Maryland Jockey Club in Baltimore, two reforms in racing were made which have done much to standardize American racing and gain for it friends and popularity. They were the establishment of a formula for the mile track, as measured at a point three feet from the inner rail, and the timing of races in split seconds. Traditions of Turf Absorbed in Maryland Jockey Club Standardized Tracks, Timing National Scope of TRPB Proves Effective Gayle L. Smith Dependable Jersey Pilot The archives show that the officers of the Maryland club were distressed by public resentment to the seemingly inconsistent form of horses coming from other tracks with time records for specific distances. The idea of a standardized mile was a good one, and was adopted by other tracks. The mile oval is still the norm for this continent. Split-second timing helped a lot, too, for races timed only to a second could make time extremely misleading. While some handicappers use other figures, the generally accepted practice is to figure one-fifth of a second to a length. With races timed only to seconds, and then on tracks on which the measurements were not correct, it is no wonder that the stewards in the old days were troubled and disturbed by "reversals of form." Incidentally, when the time reform was started, watches split only to half seconds. The modern watch is geared to fifths, and some tenths. The electrical timers at a few major American tracks can get it down to thousandths, if required. It goes without saying that this standardization of distances and timing made for widespread public acceptance of the turf, an acceptance in which the Daily Racing Form has played a significant and important role. Past performance charts are accurately made at all tracks, and, when horses meet each other at the start of a meeting, in particular, the fan has a true guide to the respective abilities of the starters. This has done much to make racing the national pastime, for, lacking it, fans would quickly lose interest. The Maryland Jockey Club played a not inconsequental part in transforming the sport of kings into the sport of the masses. AAA The effectiveness of the Thoroughbred Racing and Protective Bureau as a factor in keeping the turf free of undesirables, and the benefits accruing to racing through its national operation, was demonstrated rather dramatically in the case of Robert J. Martin, who was given a 10-year suspension by the Maryland Racing Commission "for conduct detrimental to the best interests of racing." Martin, who is only 23, had been in frequent trouble before, but none of it serious. Now, the investigation of the present case, in which the Maryland authorities convicted him of betting on mounts other than his own when he was riding in a race, and of touting, came about through an anonymous letter to the TRPB offices in Chicago. Some disgruntled citizen wrote that Martin was pulling horses. While the letter was not signed, the TRPB launched a rather perfunctory investigation, perfunctory because such communications are usually the work of cranks. The TRPB men cleared Martin of pulling horses, but, during their check they unearthed other evidence, which, when presented to the authorities, resulted in the long-term suspension. The point is that without a coordinated national body, the Chicago complaint would never have produced results. Racing overreaches the state lines, and to cope effectively with wrongdoers who may be in Florida one week, California the next, or in Maryland, an agency which operates Continued from Page Forty J D 3 Q 3 3 • . 3 3 3 3 3 3 • , . I i l. 5 J I. BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS I . Continued from Page Forty-Four beyond state lines is not only desirable, but t vitally necessary, A A A It is the Martins who make the head- " lines. Fortunately, there are few of his type in racing, and they usually do not last long. In contrast, there are hundreds of f riders who have been plying their trade for r a long time and with enviable records. For r instance, Gayle L. Smith, free lancing at t Garden State Park, has been riding for 17 7 years and has suffered, we believe, only F four suspensions in all that time, and they 7 were for trying too hard to win. Smith is s not the best known rider in the United 1 States, but he is steady, dependable, has a 1 great degree of skill, and his winning percentage - is high. He rode 17 winners in the 2 last 13 days at Gulf stream, and in New t Jersey is doing better than well. During 1 his career he has had his share of stake - winners, the most important being with i Bounding Home in the 1944 running of the 2 Belmont, stalling Pensives quest for the 2 "Triple Crown." The latter had won the 2 Kentucky Derby and Preakness, but t Smiths great ride played a large part in i Bounding Homes victory. AAA Horses and People: Lou Doherty, an 1 arrival from Elmendorf, will judge the 2 annual Maryland Yearling Show Thursday / morning. Hell also be an honored guest t at the annual luncheon of the Virginia i Breeders Association. The Virginians, who 3 have no racing with pari-mutuels, have 2 made Pimlico their adopted home . . . Pim-lico - officials have not taken kindly to the 2 suggestion, made no doubt, by a wag, that t a contest be held every year for the best t "Rebel Yell," the winner to be feted on l Preakness Day as a guest of the management, and to give the yell over the loud 1 speaker system. Each year on Preakness s Day, Rebel yells split the air after the 2 band plays "Dixie," and they rather in-l. - trigue Yankee spectators.
