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JUDGES STAND Br CHARLES HATT0N ARLINGTON PARK, Arlington Heights, 111., June 26. — Several columns ago we wrote a paragraph to the effect that all was serene, for the moment, between management and horsemen at tracks on our beat. The ink was almost dry, too, before Detroit horsemen renewed their demand mand for for an an increase increase in in purses. purses. This This mand for for an an increase increase in in purses. purses. This This corner does not fancy itself as an arbitrator in these disputes. But the Michigan Racing Association has met the Michigan horsemen more than halfway in their demands, and if there is a strike, the distribution over the entire meeting will be decreased 4,000 to 6,000 daily for each days inactivity. Further, fewer of the horsemen will have an opportunity of sharing in the distribution. There is something about the situation in Detroit which convinces us that all tracks should adopt the policy of "better purses for better horses." It not only is in the best interests of the sport, but tends to dissipate these differences over distribution. First of all, the purse minimum should be based on the worth of the cheaper horses on the grounds, and not on the volume of play. Detroit is more than fair on this basis, for it now has platers running for purses worth more than themselves. Thus, if there is an increase, it would seem logical to suppose it will be in purses for the better class of horses. The increase is requested by a majority of the horsemen, but if the club spends its purse money in a way best calculated to improve its business, a minority of the horsemen will benefit from it, so the majority are perhaps less concerned than they seem to think. On the whole, we believe that the MRA has been generous in its purses. In its three years of operation, it has lost an estimated quarter-million dollars on its distribution. We are not aware any horsemens committees suggested it decrease purses at the first meeting, when it adhered to a losing schedule, keeping its bargain with them. But one spokesman now has gratitude enough to remark that this proves the MRA didnt know how to run a race track! Minority Eligible for Detroit Increase Dangers of Illinois Stall Priorities Bill Filly How Kept Eligible for Rich Classic Don Ross Encourages More Route Racing The Illinois bill to give horses owned by residents of the state a priority on stalls is the next of kin to the measure in Washington which would prohibit shipping race horses across state boundaries. The former would cheapen the sport, as Stuyvesant Peabody has pointed out to the legislators, and the latter would destroy it. Both measures are highly discriminatory. There is far more illegal gambling on baseball t.an on horse racing, but nobody suggests ball players should not be permitted to participate in games out of state. It has been our observation that wherever such provincialism as that proposed at Springfield has been introduced into racing, the sport has degenerated into a kind of closed corporation and the public has condemned it. The bill is shortsighted also for the reason that if it becomes a law, Illinois horsemen will be refused stalls in other states, which are bound to retaliate in kind. AAA Arlingtons Classic has 75 eligibles after payment of the final subscription fees, including Counterpoint, Battlefield, Uncle Miltie, Roughn Tumble and one notable filly in How. She would not have to defy the history of the 0,000 stake on July 21 to win it, for Twilight Tear and But Why Not won recent renewals. Trainer Horatio Luro appeared to be toying with a notion of running Herman Delmans filly against the colts in the Belmont, but reconsidered and she was withdrawn. There isnt much of How, and what she has accomplished was on sheer class. She is said to be rather high strung, is not a very good shipper, and Luro doesnt do much with her between races. But she has the competitive spirit one looks for in championship performers. How is preoccupied just now with Saturdays 0,000 New Castle of a mile and a quarter at Delaware Park, and Herman Delman has indicated that she may be accounted as a probable for Arlington stakes. Thus, it may be the theory she is of a class comparable to that of the colts will be tested in the Classic. She was not nominated for the Dwyer Stakes. AAA Illinois commissioners analysis of the play shows that the mile and a quarter route is the most popular distance with Chicagoans, as it is in Kentucky, California and other areas. And Bryan Field, general manager of Delaware Park, told us at Stanton the other day that the middle distance events, with both the start and finish in full view of the spectators, appeal to the patrons of that course. This is reflected in the action along the "tote" line. Don Ross authorization of a bonus in any extra races at a mile and a sixteenth or greater distance is warranted for other reasons, as if those werent enough. There are about 90 sprinters on the grounds that might be stretched out to race a distance if the horsemen feel the purses justify it. As you know, a horse may race oftener in sprints than at a route, thus the bonus will compensate horsemen for using up more horse to the race, so to speak. Besides, Ross feels that racing has an obligation to improvement of the breed, meaningless, as many cynics have come to think of that phrase. AAA Turf ana: The Maryland-Delaware-West Virginia division of the Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association has formally protested conditions in Waterford Parks stable area. . .Keenelands Louie Haggin, now a member of The Jockey Club, is racing his small string here in charge of D. A. Headley. . .Kiss Me Kate is in Aqueducts Gazelle Stakes on July 11, and the Monmouth Oaks on July 25. . .Bill Hamilton now is serving in the stand at Waterford, where the first meet promises to be a success . Al Lavin will attend details of opening the racing secretarys office at Randall . . . The New Castle trophy is a handsome solid gold cigaret box. . .Arlingtons stable area is among the most carefully guarded and patrolled in this country.
