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ON THE WIRE By Hugh J. McGuire, BEULAH PARK, Grove City, Ohio, May 12. With a view to getting a different interpretation of the value of a school or pool of officials from that offered yesterday in this space by steward Monte Weil, we asked for the opinion of Andrew R. "Snooks" Winters, who serves in the same capacity here. Winters, who also is a state senator in West Virginia, came into racing under the late Thomas Bradley at Charles Town when that track first opened about 1933. Winters started as a patrol judge and he is the only one of the original group of .officials at Charles Town who is still associated with that track. Winters advanced through the various jobs of entry clerk, paddock judge, clerk of the scales, placing judge to the stewardship, and his duties have found him at such tracks as Dade, Keeneland, Bowie, Hagerstown, Oaklawn Park and the three .tracks in West Virginia, where he served as steward representing the state for several years. AAA Winters opinion of the pool for officials was essentially the same as that offered by Weil. He pointed out that he had found a keen interest in the topic among officials wherever-he had journeyed, but that many of them were apprehensive that if the pool were adopted nationally by all tracks under existing conditions, it would only be a matter of years until control of the officials of the country would be vested in one locality. AAA While he saw merit in a pool plan, Winters believed it should be operated by the officials themselves. He did not believe that a man without the fundamental knowledge of racing could be turned out as a finished product after a few weeks at a school, although he admitted that something could be learned by such a procedure. Winters compared officiating at racing to that of other sports such as football or basketball, at both of which he had worked. While a set of rules are laid down in a book, no study of that book would enable the official to interpret the rules justly. In the case of fouls, there is always to. be considered, the, matter of. Jth.e, degree Winters Views on Officials Schoolt - Pool Can Be of Benefit to Sport Bulcroft Handles Jockeys Room I of harm caused and particularly, the in? tention. "These things cant be learned out of a book," said Winters. "A dancing teacher can show you the steps and be of great assistance, but you have to do your own dancing." AAA Winters went on to say that the greatest help or obstacle in the way of an official was the ability that a person possessed. This was no different from other occupations. "A person can be improved along a general direction but you just cant make a purse from a sows ear" he said. "An organization that would foist the services of incapable men into racing would do the sport irreparable harm. On the other hand such an organization would be of great assistance in furthering Ihe careers of men who would make capable officials. "We interviewed Weil and Winters without advising them that we had talked to the other man. We think it. worthy of note that, independently, both Weil and Winters felt that an official pool could do much to further the career of such a man as the third steward in the stand at Beulah Park. This is Frank G. Wilson, a man with five years experience who impressed both Weil and Winters as to his capabilities. A A A There is one phase of racing in which the public has little chance to get firsthand information because it is not permitted close contact or admission to .the work. This is the operation of the jockeys quarters from which the public is rightly excluded for obvious reasons which include protection of the jockey himself. The room here is in charge of George Bulcroft, a former jockey who has had 30 years experience at such work and has spent 15 of these I years with, the management of this track. Bulcroft has known no other occupation but the race track. His father, William A. Bulcroft was a well known trainer prior to his death and conditioned the horses of such prominent Canadian horsemen as Lord Shaughnessy and Sir Montague Allen and at times had as many as 35 horses in training. Indeed the elder Bulcroft found himself with 22 practically useless horses when the Canadian ;goyernment suspended I I I racing during World War I. George Bulcroft is the oldest of a family of 11, six of them are boys. Two brothers, Sidney and Allen, were also riders until weight advances compelled them to desert the saddle. Allan left the track for the advertising business but Sidney is a member of the valet crew here at Beulah. AAA During his own career as a valet George Bulcroft worked for such prominent jockeys of another era as Earl Sande, Mack Garner, Jimmy Smith and he attended both Johnny Gilbert and Hank Mills when that pan-staged a bitter duel for the title of leading rider of the country. His work has taken him to many parts of the country and his travels include sessions in Canada and Cuba. The present crew of valets at Beulah includes Tommy Murray, who rode in the Kentucky Derby in 1920, and Harold Morgan, who rode as recently as last year. Charles H. Jaeger is the son of a trainer of 60 years experience who conditioned the horses of such prominent sportsmen as Polk Laffoon, Rome Respess and Harry C. Hatch. Lefty Joe Coleman is believed to be the oldest active valet in the business. His age is his own secret, but his fellow workers maintain that he served as valet for Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons when that veteran was a jockey. AAA Bulcroft places support of the track management as the most important aid in the successful operation of a jockeys room. He believes that it is necessary to establish a set of rules and then abide by them strictly, making no exceptions, and showing no favoritism. He looks upon the crew of valets here as an excellent one with a full knowledge of what is to be done and the ability to do it. He believes that he now is confronted with a better class of riders than he had to handle in former years, that they are more amendable to discipline so long as they know they are being treated equally. Throughout his long experience, Bulcroft has seen many riders of all types come and go, but he states firmly that he knows of no single jockey who was a thief who finished his career with anything material to show for his nefarious practices. AAA In Brief: Jockey Don Pinkstaff, injured in a spill at Wheeling, is now at Mt. Carmel Hospital, Columbus General manager j Continued on Page Forty Ere d J k. -i 0 U rf WTfiH .3c?TA . I ; 5 ; ; f - 1 1 r I ON THE WIRE By HUGH J. McGUIRE Continued from Page Four George H. Sisler, Jr., and a director of public relations, Harold Hays, of the Columbus Red Birds ball club, were birds of another type when they were railbirds at Beulah. Sisler is a son of the famous George Sisler of baseballs Hall of Fame Walter "Snooks" Ridenour sent word that he would ship a string of seven horses, headed by Wellblessed and Legal Time, from Keeneland for a campaign at River Downs. Ridenour reported that he had to destroy the horse, Portray;. . .Robert J. Dienst, president of Beulah, was a host to a group or more than 50 newspaper, television and radio women in the clubhouse W. S. Dutcher is a regular at this meeting. Dutch-er operates Cedar Spring Farm, north of Columbus, where he stands the stallion Dis pose. He also has a string in training at Beulah.... Jockey Jimmy Dobson stopped off and renewed acquaintances while en route from Churchill Downs to Garden State Dobson is affiliated with trainer Frank Gilpin and is exercise boy for Royal Note, the unbeaten two-year-old who accounted for the Lafayette and Bashford Manor Stakes. Dobson was prominent in this sector a few years ago as a rider of the gray flash, South Dakota, who established several track records under the silks of Al Smitha.
