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ON THE WIRE By Hugh J. McGuire BEULAH PARK, Grove .City, Ohio, May 11. A review of the career in racing of steward Monte Weil revealed that he is serving his second year in the stared at Beulah Park, his third at River Downs and his sixth at Gulf stream. Prior to that he. had occupied a similar post at Chicagos Hawthorne and Sportsmans Park. For some 23 years Weil raced and trained thoroughbreds and came into his official capacity with a wealth of knowledge of the operation of a racing stable. Heacted as chairman for the first meeting of the Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association in his home in Miami Springs and served as vice-president of the central division of that body lor two years after its formation. At that time this group included the horsemen of Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan and Nebraska, a combination since divided differently. Weil recalls that the infant organization moved into Illinois without members or money and-when he resigned there was some 0,000 in the treasury after the usual operating costs and benefits had been paid. Weil is a charter member of the organization, but because of his official affiliations he is not active in its operations. AAA Weil is one of the officials brought into Ohio racing by the management of Beulah and River Downs in its continued effort to re-establish the sport on the highest scale. He notes an increased confidence in Ohio racing on the part of the public and be-lives that as this support continues better purses and better horses can be expected. With Weils background we thought it pertinent to get his opinion on the operations of a pool for officials and he gave it, without hesitation. Praising the possibili-, ties of such an organization, Weil was of the opinion that racing officials could not be made in a week or two at school. We saw the usefulness of a pool but was of the opinion that it should be operated by officials as a sort of co-operative. Stressing that it was not because he himself had had long experience as a horseman, he thought that this education was invaluable for an official to obtain an insight into the thoughts and problems of the men on ;the backstretch. He has found this experience of great assistance in his official work. AAA Another point on which Weil was com- Monte Weil Experienced Official Formerly Operated Racing Stable Tom Brown Anent Cahokia Downs pletely sold was that the day of over-officiousness on the part of stewards had passed. "My office is always open to any horseman. He does not need an appointment nor does he have to remove his hat when he enters" he said. "The average horseman is quite a nice fellow. He is entitled to the best and I try to see that he doesnt get the worst of any situation. It doesnt take long to identify those who are trying to take unfair advantage of their fellow hosemen." A glance into the office of steward Weil islikely to show the presence there of a horseman, with his hat on. AAA We watched starter Tom Brown climb down from the new metal starters stands now in use here and we fancied we detected an air of greater assurance that had been present when the old wooden stands were used. Some of the old wooden structures did not engender confidence. Brown has been coming to Beulah Park for many years and dates his first appearance when this was a half-mile oval more than a quarter of a century ago. He has served officially almost wherever horses have run on this continent including Cuba, Mexico and Canada and has acted in many different capacities in addition to starter; He recalls service under two of what he terms the best starters the country has known in Mars Cassidy and A. B. Dade. He was an assistant racing secretary at City Park in New Orleans and saw New Yorks handicapper John B. Campbell and his assistant Julius Reeder begin their careers. He served also under famed starters of another era in Bill Snyder, Ed Tribe and Frank McGinnty. AAA Brown took us quickly from Beulah, which he reminded us we could see for ourselves, to Cahokia Downs, the new course under construction in East St. Louis. Brown will serve as director of racing and steward at the six-furlong plant which will feature night racing four nights weekly with afternoon sport on Saturday and with Mondays dark. He was enthusiastic over the new project and said that the steel for the grandstand was up and it is about in readiness for the carpenters to get started on seating arrangements. We thought that Brown was particularly en thusiastic over the racing strip which he tells us is 80 feet wide and which is already j accommodating horses for workouts. He predicts that the racing strip will be particularly fast and reported that ordinary horses have already worked six furlongs in 1:13, five furlongs in one minute. He stated that the track could be raced over now. A A A Trucks carrying material and men to the men working on the erection of lights in the infield were creating a path across the racing strip and Brown stopped this practice. He was also forced to repair, sections of the track which had been dug up to lay cables for the lights. There are 740 stalls in seven barns and a loading platform is in operation for the transferring of horses between the new course and Fairmount Park. A receiving barn contains 120 stalls. Stable help will not be permitted to sleep in the stalls and outside tack rooms have been erected between the barns. These are equipped with showers and wash rooms. Brown has been careful in the selection of officials who are to oversee the conduct of the sport and these will include James P. Ross, Jr., who will serve as a steward, and Kenneth Mcintosh, David Russell and Edward Hopton as placing judges. Jack Klucina will be racing secretary. AAA In Brief: Jockey Norman Hart merely mentioned that he could not speak Spanish when custodian of the jockeys room George Bullcrof t reminded the rider that he, Hart, did not speak ten words of his native English in a day and didnt need Spanish. Bull-croft says Hart is the most taciturn rider he has ever seen. . Mr. and Mrs. Joe Becker came up from Cincinnati for some sport. The Becker horses are trained by Geo. Manley. . .Ike Bassett, manager of the central division of the Jockeys Guild, returned to Chicago after a routine appearance on opening day of the meeting. . .Jockey J. Vitelli departed for Cleveland to join the stable trained by Frank "Happy" Christmas . . .Jockey Dave Baldwin, who is riding here, holds a degree in ceramic engineering from Ohio State University. . .H. V. Courtneys Tulomas Girl and Ben Nye almost created some sort of a record on Monday when the former won and the latter finished second. The horses are full sister and brother and we understand there is also, a two-year-old brother in the stable. . .George McFarland did a good conditioning job on his Frisky Jimmy who won at first asking on Monday after being away from the races since November.
