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Weighing In • By EVAN SHIPMAN BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y„ May 16. — Amateur racing has always seemed to us to be the foundation of the sport. The enthusiasm engendered by the riding or driving a horse ones self carries the budding owner to the salesring, and if he possesses the means — always that qualification — it is not long" before a real stable is racing in his colors. We all know and acknowledge the debt that we owe steeplechasing for keeping racing alive during the lean years of the Hart-Agnew era, and it was the unfailing interest of the amateur that preserved the sport for the ultimate satisfaction of the two dollar bettor. When a character complains that racing over the fences does not furnish the form to which he is accustomed, we can only answer that his own short-sightedness is depriving him of a fine spectacle that would be much more frequently offered on our programs with his approvals Belmont, fortunately, clings to the chasers, but this type of racing has been practically abandoned at the major Maryland tracks, and the object seems to be shunt these events to the strictly hunt meetings. Had we not seen the vast popularity of steeplechasing in France, we might believe that the large crowd had no taste for thissortof competition, but they are just as heavy as at the tracks that offer programs of races on the flat. Rigan McKinney and Pete Bostwick are great names in the annals of American steeplechasing, and we could go back and mention a lot of other amateurs who have ridden brilliantly. The history of harness racing also contains many names of amateur drivers who were of great service to their sport. We think immediately of the late C. K. G. Billings, owner of the imported Kentucky Derby winner, Omar Khayyam, and member of The Jockey Club, who was even better known as the owner and driver of Uhlan 1:58 and Lou Dillon 1:58 J/2. The last named mare was the sensation of her day, and she crowned a career in American matinee events with a trip to Europe, where she won the high praise of both, the Kaiser and Czar of Russia. McKinney never rode- in Europe, but Bostwick spent one or two winters in England, doing very well against the professionals, although he did not achieve his real object, riding a Grand National winner at Aintree. We remember very well when J. H. V. Davis came to France, purchased the chaser Eider from Baron Maurice de Rothschild and then rode him to victory in a handicap at Auteiul the next afternoon. At Belmont, the amateurs meet professionals on even terms, and, of course, the former get no concessions when they start a horse in harness events at Grand Circuit meetings or the local tracks. The old fashioned horsemen, such as C. K. G. Billings or David Bonner or William K. Van-derbilt, would have been shocked by the idea of starting their trotters for. money. They not only never drove in an event against professionals, but they never permitted any of their horses to start in such a race. Their contests were either in matinees, or the horses were sent "against the watch" — a custom much more prevalent a half century ago than it is today. Billings trotter, Lou Dillon, was the first to enter the "charmed circle" of two minutes for the mile, accomplishing that feat in 1904 at Readville, Mass. The season before, there had been some argument concerning the authenticity of Lou Dillons records, and the father of Francis Dunne, steward representing the New York State Racing Commission at our local tracks, was asked by her owner to go to Memphis and hold the watch on her. With the late Mars Cassidy, he made the trip, and duly reported to the nations press that Lou Dillon had trotted her mile in 2:03. This caused an uproar, because the harness horse fraternity were convinced she had done it in 2:03 flat, but Dunne never "took back." Less prejudiced than the owners of fast trotters, the men who ride thoroughbreds over the fences have been willing to throw down the gauge to the professionals. Harry Worcester Smith and Thomas Hitchcock were never intimidated by the thought of meeting such a wiley bandit as Nat Ray over the fences, and if Nat had the intention of riding them into the wings, they had just as much mischief in mind where the wicked Canadian was concerned, always their firm friend off the course. The late Harry Deveraux, who is immortal as the drummer boy of the famous painting "The Spirit of 76," was one of the greatest amateur drivers of trotters, and for many years, he was the wheel horse behind the Cleveland Matinee Club. John Continued on Page Forty -Nine I WEIGHING IN By EVAN SHEPMAN - Continued from Page Four Splan, who was the Laverne Fator, Earl Sande and Eddie Arcaro of the harness turf all wrapped Into one, said that Deveraux could drive trotters the way Isaac Murphy rode runners, and the fact is that he defeated a lot of faster horses with the game, steady stallion, John A. McKerron. Yonkers Raceway seems to appreciate that the owner of a*, horse likes nothing better than to get up and drive, and that his friends will come a long way to see him do it. This harness track precedes the regular program oh Thursday nights with two evehts — ho wagering — for amateurs, and we are witness, to the fact that they are fun to watch and bring out a big crowd. In framing the conditions for these races, however, we do believe that Yonkers has made a mistake; the association allows grooms and second trainers, who liave never driven professionally, to start, and we think that these men are not true amateurs in any strict sense of the word. They drive horses every day, even if not in actual races, while your amateur is lucky to get behind one once a week. There is nothing snobish in our wish to exclude grooms and second trainers from these interesting events, but we do believe they should be reserved for owners and their friends. Some of these will graduate bye-and-bye to the big league, but, in the meanwhile, let them have their sport by themselves and without the competition of men who earn their living with horses.
