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Ascot Jockeys Agree To Ride Under Protest ProtestHandle Handle Mounts When Stewards Assure Safety of Racing Strip StripBy By HUGH J McGUIRE McGUIREASCOT ASCOT PARK Cuyahoga Falls Ohio May 6 A cessation of racing at this course was averted only a few minutes before post time for the first race today when the jockeys agreed to ride under protest until the racing strip was tested They had pre ¬ viously declared by vote that the track was unsafe for riding as the result of continuous rainfall The jockeys met under Ike Bas sett manager of the central division of the Jockeys Guild and were prepared to desert the jockeys quarters when Bassett secured verbal statements from the three stewards to the effect that in their individual opin ¬ ions the track was safe for racing racingThere There was no question of a strike as such but rather a determination of the safety of the strip for racing Bassett stated that the management at Ascot had always cooper ¬ ated with the riders but that he felt it itContinued Continued on Page FortyThree Ascot Jockeys Agree To Ride Under Protest ProtestHandle Handle Mounts When Stewards Assure Safety of Racing Strip Continued from Page One Onenecessary necessary to get a statement from the offi ¬ cials as to the degree of danger they felt existed Bassett learned that insurance on the riders during the protest period would be in effect At one point in the discussion when it appeared that there would be no racing today Frank J Moore director of operations at Ascot declared that any ces ¬ sation of racing today would result in a permanent closing of the track for the bal ¬ ance of this scheduled meeting General manager Danny Cronin of Ascot Park met with Ike Bassett central manager of the Jockeys Guild late this afternoon The two agreed to the following terms The track will be worked tonight in an effort to remedy the poor spot just inside the first turn Cronin plans to have discs run over the track and the reason this has not been done previously was due to the wet condi ¬ tion of the strip There will be no work ¬ outs in the morning morningCronin Cronin also stated that if any more rain should fall tonight and the track was con ¬ sidered to be unsafe for Fridays racing that the program would be called off by the association associationA A late check with the Akron weather bureau is encouraging There is no rain predicted for at least the next 24 hours hoursOtto Otto G Elliott a member of the Ohio Racing Commission was present during the discussions He expressed the opinion that the decision to ride should rest entirely with the jockeys who were in the best position to know the degree of danger to which they were subjected Bassett however insisted that the jockeys act as a body and that individual opinions would have to be sub ¬ ject to a united decision from the Guild GuildElliott Elliott also went on record as saying that the riders did not have to fear any reper ¬ cussions in the way of fines or suspensions in retaliation if they refused to ride Bas ¬ sett stated that the protest period would bt in effect for at least 24 hours or until such time as was necessary to determine the con ¬ tinuing safety of the racing strip for racing The track today appeared to be the secon best ofthe meeting which has been in oper ation for 20 days
