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NASRC Committees Make Reports Versatile Bugle Corps Triumphant Desire Uniformity In Rules of Turf TurfAdjudication Adjudication of Differences Needed to Insure Continuity Of Racing and State Revenue RevenueBy By CHARLES HATTON HATTONBOSTON BOSTON Mass June 8 The nineteenth annual convention of the National Associa ¬ tion of State Racing Commissioners began very purposely in its Sheraton Plaza head ¬ quarters here today with more than 100 racing commissioners representing 19 rac ¬ ing states and executives of the TBA TRPB Jockeys Guild HBPA Canada Cuba Mexico and Jamaica in attendance Frank Wartori of the Uniform Rules and Procedure committee appeared to have keynoted the convention when he spoke gratefully of the entertainment program but urged let us treat this convention seriously recbgnizing our responsibilities to the public state and sport sportThe The opening address at this convention was delivered by president D Thomas Testa who is also the Rhode Island Com misison chairman Testa began his speech by saying I desire to extend to my fellow commissioners and our guests a most cor dial welcome to New England and to ex ¬ press the sincere hope that our delibera ¬ tions here will result in the rendering of greater service in the promotion and super ¬ vision of the sport of racing Continuing ContinuingContinued Continued on Page Seven MRS AE SMITH Secretary of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners who was commended for her excellent work in handling the associations Bulletin Committees of NASRC Make Reoorts as Convention Opens Uniform Rules Are Needed Adjudication of Differences Aids Continuity of Racing RacingContinued Continued from Pogt One Onehe he said the officers and members of the NASRC desire to acknowledge our grateful appreciation to Thomas J Beedem chair ¬ man and the members of the convention committee who are responsible for the very fine program that has been arranged in order to insure that your visit to Boston and New England will be memorable one I am mindful too of the splendid spirit of cooperation that has been shown by the management of the racing associations in Massachusetts New Hampshire and Rhode Island who have contributed so generously to insure the success of our social events I am sure too that all of us welcome with sincere thanks the opportunity to be the guests of the Triange Publications and the American Totalisator Company during our stay here hereDuring During the year that I have been hon ¬ ored to serve as your president racing has truly enjoyed an outstanding year This has been due to the acceptance of respon ¬ sibility by all those who have a part in the presentation and participation in the sport of thoroughbred racing Every one of us identified with racing have a responsibility to insure that our every effort is directed to gaining the confidence and support of the American people and by good public rela ¬ tions to gain new supporters to our cause Our every effort should be directed to in ¬ sure that no untoward event shall reflect on the sport It is a challenge that all of us engaged in the promotion of the sport in one way or another must accept and by uniting our efforts combat those who will ¬ ingly or unwillingly are guilty of acts that would destroy the confidence and support that the American people have shown in the sport The great gains that racing now enjoys have been due to many factors par ¬ ticularly the protective measures taken to keep the sport clean We are indeed deeply indebted to the investigating agencies whose devoted service and alertness has helped in enforcing the laws and rules of racing racingGreater Greater Success Seems Assured AssuredAll All of us in racing welcome the oppor ¬ tunity with pride to the success that it en ¬ joyed during the 1952 season and the even greater success that seems assured in the present area yet we cannot close our eyes to the unfortunate incidents that have not been beneficial in the promotion of the sport nor have helped in insuring good public relations relationsI I think we can all agree that recent mis ¬ understandings in various parts of the country have not been beneficial to racing and yet I submit that a vast majority of those engaged in the sport are hopeful that a means will be found to adjudicate these differences that arise from time to time before they result in strikes or undue pub ¬ licity which could seriously injure the sport In recent years many suggestions have been offered in the hope of avoiding these inci ¬ dents We all readily admit there are many complications that make it impossible to create a national body to consider these problems and attempt to adjudicate them From meetings such as this however may come the thought that will enable us to make further advances in accomplishing unity in our efforts effortsTesta Testa noted that two NASRC officers have recently resigned vicepresident Dwight Murphy of California and Dr James Farquharson of Colorado who served as treasurer The executive commit ¬ tee has selected Dr Frank Menne of Ore ¬ gon as successor to Dr Farquharson The president observed the success of the NASRC is due in large measure to our very capable and efficient secretary Billie Smith This young lady is in my opinion the very backbone of our organization and I am sure that all of us can testify to the very thorough job she is rendering in prep ¬ aration of the bulletin bulletinJohn John D Brown City Greeter GreeterBostons Bostons Mayor John B Hyiies could not be present to welcome the commission ¬ ers but John D Brown the official city greeter deputized for him hospitably hospitablyID ID response to Brown A S Drew proved an entertaining raconteur And in a serious vein said This is a very exclusive organi ¬ zation composed of slightly more than 100 members and the unique and astounding part is that every member has the same thought and that is the betterment of rac ¬ ing Also most of these members serve without pay give their time gratis and work hard and long to accomplish this purpose and they have no selfish motives behind their efforts and expenditures and at no time are they ever reimbursed for all their expenses No officer of this or ¬ ganization draws any emoluments or ex ¬ penses other than our full time secretary secretaryHighlighting Highlighting the days business were committee reports on night racing off course betting uniform rules public rela ¬ tions information constitution and by ¬ laws and international relations relationsSuccintly Succintly chairman Byron Redman of the night racing committee said There appears to be no controversy over the opinion rendered by the committee on night racing at the 1951 annual meeting and to which referred in my report of 52 As you recall these committees came to the con ¬ clusion that the permission of night racing was a matter for the individual states to decide and not for the NASRC NASRCThe The report on offcourse wagering also had the quality of brevity though it did not have the unanimous approval of the commissioners developing the only con ¬ scientious objection of the day dayChairman Chairman Hugh Mehorters committee committeeResolved Resolved that the NASRC does hereby herebyreiterate reiterate its condemnation of offcourse betting as being opposed to the best inter ¬ ests of thoroughbred racing Illinois W S Miller and Paul Serdar lodged dissenting votes when it was moved for adoption not on the basis of the turfs interests but be ¬ cause as Miller put it I feel it would be an impertinence of the part of the NASRC if this motion were carried and a legisla ¬ ture decided suddenl yto consider off course betting He added that he person ¬ ally is neither for nor against off course betting and that it is not an issue in his state stateSuggestions Suggestions of Deep Interest InterestWartons Wartons report on uniform rules con ¬ tained several suggestions of very deep in ¬ terest in all quarters of the turf One of uppermost importance his committee re ¬ port stated in the conduct of racing is the assurance of continuity of racing You are aware that one of our tracks in Chicago in May of last year was closed for a con ¬ siderable period due to a boycott by horse ¬ men based upon their belief that inade ¬ quate purses were being offered You are also aware that in the past month of May there was another boycott at the Hollywood race track in Los Angeles AngelesI I am not prepared to take a position on the side of either group but the effect to the states involved was serious I feel therefore that it would be very helpful if some rule could be applied which would place a burden upon both the track and the racingFor horsemen to insure continuity of racing For example I believe the tracks should be called upon to make statements as to their intentions of purse offerings at least 90 days prior to the opening of the track A period of 30 days would then be allowed so that the horsemen could either accept or reject the program offered In this man ¬ ner the continuance of racing could be controlled This could be called a racing continuity rule and every licensee and em ¬ ployee could be bound by an agreement of employment with the association The owners and trainers could agree with the purse and stakes schedule offered by the association and this would apply during the entire meeting It is quite conceivable that under less advantageous conditions of racing than exist today due to the pros ¬ perous condition of the country the racej tracks would be the sufferers from such a regulation regulationSuggestions Suggestions of Warton WartonWarton Warton also suggested VA interim meet ¬ ings of the NASRC committees B that the film patrol be adopted quickly as pos ¬ sible by all associations C that trainers applying for a license should have a min ¬ imum of two years experience under a per ¬ son or persons known to be competent in all phases of horsemanship D it would be very helpful if all penalties concerning jockey rules could be made uniform and E that clockers should be licensed and that no horses should be worked unless at least presentWarton two official clockers were present Warton did not read his entire report which was quite lengthy and was placed in mimeographed form in all the as ¬ semblages hands Speaking extemporan ¬ eously he opined that the question of the uniformity of rules was probably the great ¬ est confronting the NASRC He deplored that some states have refused licenses and neglected to report this to the NASRC sec ¬ retary for publication in the bulletin And he believes that a closer association with the American Trainers Association would be beneficial helping to establish sound rules rulesThere There were frequent references during the session to the drugs rules In Wartons opinion there is a horsemens side of the qustion of stimulants for some of them are contained in medicines A trainer must have at his disposal remedies to prevent the death of his horses I would like to see eliminated the socalled 48 hours rule Many stimulants are present in the system much longer Procaine for example showed 96 hours after it was administered in one instance And there had been scien ¬ tific assurances this was impossible impossibleDonovan Donovan on Stimulation Measures MeasuresWalter Walter Donovan was recognized by the chair and supplemented some of Wartons remarks declaring that the stimulation measures should be made more uniform and that the 48 hours rule no longer is effective He noted that although the Of ¬ ficial Racing Chemists reported fewer than 50 cases during 1952 the rules could notbe relaxed relaxedI I suggest Donovan said that we ap ¬ proach the stimulation rule objectively to avoid differences in application applicationThis This last was a recurrent theme There was no reference either specifically or guardedly to individual instances or dif ¬ ferences in enforcement of the rules But it seemed implicit the administration of these regulations have been irregular in the sense uniformity was lacking lackingDonovan Donovan saw no reason more uniformity may not be achieved in basic rules such as those covering the claiming of horses and jockey apprenticeships And he urged the commissioners make a concerted objective effort to arrive at more consistency in the fundamental rules rulesThere There was to have been a report on state revenues at the first days session but it developed the former chairman A B Han ¬ cock Jr had found it impossible to devote a sufficient time to this subject James Inglis was named chairman of this com ¬ mittee and it now is in process of prepar ¬ ing a report to be presented later in the convention conventionThe The report on Information was chiefly in connection with improving the NASRC bulletin with acknowledgement of the ex ¬ cellent job of distributing information done by Mrs A E Smith secretary of the NASRC under the present circumstances Among other things the commissions were requested to expedite notification of the rulings defining the offense with the ut ¬ most particularity rather than overwork ¬ ing the phrase detrimental to the best interest of racing racingAssistance Assistance for Secretary Smith SmithThere There also was carried a motion to con ¬ sider more adequate quarters and assist ¬ ance for secretary Smith in Lexington An ¬ other motion was made by A S Drew to increase the individual commission dues for membership in the NASRC from 300 to 500 annually and it was moved to study this matter for a report in the 1954 con ¬ vention There was also a suggestion of a possible increase in subscription fees for the bulletin It was brought outby Ashley Cole that by no means all track subscribe to the bulletin though it would seem nearly indispensible indispensibleCole Cole as head of the committee on inter ¬ national relations noted that racing ex ¬ ecutives the world over had displayed a keen interest in haying copies of the NASRC convention minutes and speeches And more each year are signifying their intention of accepting invitations to these forums Turf organizations in Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil BWJ Canada Central America Ceylon Chile Dominico England India France Ireland Italy the Philippines Peru Spain Sweden Uruguay theh Bahamas Venezuela and Tokyo are among those who have requested informa ¬ tion concerning the NASRCs activities activitiesIn In the course of the first of the fourday business sessions Earl Moyer E J Kelley Ashley T Cole W S Miller and William Fitzgerald were appointed to a nominating committee Installation of officers is to take place Wednesday morning morningAmong Among the mornings speakers was Lt Gov Clifford jones of Nevada who ex ¬ tended an invitation to hold the next NASRC convention or one at the earliest convenience and pleasure in Las Vegas VegasPresent Present for the forum today were the racing commissioners Max Brooks Colo Dr Curtis Haggard Fla Paul Serdar William Miller and Frank Warton 111 W R Knebelkamp and L J Hollenbach Jr Ky Max Tobias A S Drew Otis Bourg Sr A S Holliday and J E Loper secretary La Frank Totman Paul Dun das John Wood Maine D Eldred Rine hart and J William Graham Md Allan MacLeod T J Beedem John Lawrence and Lawrence Lane secretary Mass James Inglis Mich Earl Moyer Grove Porter and H J Sdhwab Nebr A W Harris and Floyd Lamb Nev Hugh Mehorter and Charles Sheehan N J Ashley Cole and Harry Millar secretary N Y J H Beck Ore D Thomas Testa E R Hughes George Greenhalgh secretary and Raymond McElroy R I William Fitz ¬ gerald and Frank Christmas Wash J F Edwards and Ralph LePore W Vaf Dr Miguel Pita Havana Oscar Obregon Mexico and Magistrate S Tupper Bige low Ontario OntarioAlso Also on hand were the TRAs John A Morris and TRPBs Spencer Drayton and Ed Coffey along with the Jockeys Guilds Sterling Young Bert Thompson and Ike Bassett and the HBPAs Robert O Read Visitors from Kingston Jamaica were Colin Calder president of The Jockey Club and O M Steele The Jockey Clubs steward
