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Lincolns Lincolns Au Au Revoir Revoir to to Test Test Sextet; Sextet; NASRC NASRC Attacks Attacks Taxation Taxation Problem Problem Five Speakers Take Up Vital Subject Plan to Form Committee to Oppose Excessive Levies; Menne Elected President By BOB HORWOOD Staff Correspondent ASBURY PARK, N. J., June 22.— The election of new officers and a motion that their election be made unanimous without the formality of a ballot, and a concerted exposition of the problems of excessive taxation on thoroughbred racing were the highlights of this mornings second session of the twentieth annual convention of the National Association of State Racing Commissioners, which was held in the Berkeley-Carteret Hotel. Following the customary procedure, the incumbent members of the NASRC executive committee each moved up one notch, with a new member in the person of Em-mett J. Kelley, of New Hampshire, being elected treasurer, succeeding Paul Serdar of Illinois. * Dr. Frank Menne, of Oregon, was elected president of the NASRC, succeeding Hugh L. Mehorter, of New Jersey. Wathen R. KnebelEamp, of Kentucky, succeeds Dr. 5 I Menne as first % Vice-president; Thomas J. Beedem, Massachusetts, succeeds Knebel-kamp as second vice-president, and Serdar moves up from treasurer to succeed Beedem as third vice-president. Mrs. A. E. "Billie" Smith was elected to retain her post as secretary and assistant treasurer. Ashley T. Cole, chairman of the New York State Racing Commission, and former president of the NASRC, introduced the report of the committee on nominations. Following discussions of The Jockey Club chestnut and Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau lip tattoo systems of identification, which were accompanied by slides and motion pictures, and which will be discussed in more detail below, five representatives of five different turf bodies attacked the problem of taxation. While this vital subject was entered as the last, but as the speaker said, by no means the last, of six suggestions concluding the address by Robert O. Read, president of tho Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association, it was the major topic of George Continued on Page Six ► ; i Excessive Taxation on Sport Attacked by NASRC Speakers Plan to Form Committee to Oppose Excessive Levies; Mertne Elected President Continued from Page One D. Widener, chairman of The Jockey Club; John A. Bell, III., of the Thoroughbred Club of America; Judge James A.„ Dooley, president of Narragansett Park, who was speaking for Thoroughbred Racing Associations, Inc., and J. Samuel Perlman editor and publisher of Daily Racing" Form and The Morning Telegraph. An indication that something concrete may come from todays discussion of taxation came at the close of the session, when William Fitzgerald of Washington urged that a committee on taxation be formed before the close of this convention, demanding that some definite action be taken at once. President Mehorter, before announcing adjournment, said that the chair would seriously consider such a motion or resolution before the close of the convention on Thursday. The addresses of Read, Widener, Bell, Dooley and Perlman are all published in full elsewhere in this edition, but not all are given precisely in the form in which they were presented, owing to the pressure of time, Judge Dooley compressed his prepared address into an "off the cuff" plea for racings leaders to make a more vigorous attempt to educate legislators on all levels on the importance of racing to the national economy and as to the merits of this entirely legal sport, which, nevertheless, is "booted around in congress by legislators who are afraid to be considered in racings corner." Should Show Pride in Sport The publisher of this newspaper followed his prepared address by an extemporaneous plea for those in racing to show their pride in the sport. "The improvement of public j relations starts with pride in the sport," Perlman said. "Racing is now completely accepted by all who know it, the opposition coming from those who have no interest in the sport, but some people in racing contribute to the lack of acceptance. "The men who serve on racing commissions," Perlman declared, "should be men who have a fondness for the sport and thus want to maintain its present high standards. There have been instances of men taking posts as racing commissioners who approached their task with what was, at best, an attitude of suspicion toward everything connected with racing. "Similarly," he aaded, "too many governors fail to in any way support the sport which contributes so much to the state revenue. In fact, one state governor boasted that he has never attended a race track. We dont make any effort to demand that the state governors give racing the same moral support that they give other sports which contribute a little to the state revenue." Perlman then cited J. Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI and generally regarded as one of the worlds leaders in law enforcement, as a regular attendant at race tracks. He noted that the governors of Kentucky, Maryland and Delaware have frequently visited tracks in their states and that recently governors Goodwin J. Knight of California and Robert B. Meyner of New Jersey had made official visits on stake days to Hollywood and Garden State Parks. In conclusion, Perlman declared that "racing is a sport of which we can all be proud and all of us must have that pride in racing if it is to survive the attacks of those who oppose it through ignorance." Strong Support for Vanderbilt Plan The bulk of Reads address on behalf of the HBPA was a strong support of the "Vanderbilt plan" for providing officials -through The Jockey Club, an urgent plea for a return to the former claiming rule under which only winners are raised in value and a desire for more uniformity in the rules concerning suspensions for stimulation. Read concluded, however, by saying: "Our association asks that you gentlemen use your influence to stop the ever-increasing tax burden our industry is asked to bear. During the past year we have seen further increases in taxes passed in several states, and, if we who are interested in the sport do not use our best efforts to stop this tide of taxation, all of us will suffer and the sport will suffer irreparable harm." Speaking for the Thoroughbred Club, Bell urged a closer relationship between racing and the various governmental bodies and suggested that the responsibility for this closer liaison could well be accepted by the thoroughbred breeders, who, he said, have not been diligent at working with state officials. MiMiHiHtaittyiittfcifciiiittiUand the pari-mutuel tax was recently put before the legislature in the racing state of Kentucky, only two state senators voted against the damaging measure, he declared, "What was lacking in Kentucky, and what is even more sadly needed in other states, is a continuous program of public relations and education. That is where racing commissioners and horse breeders and owners can cooperate successfully. But the horsemen require some direction from you the commissioners. They are usually inexperienced in politics and they need guidance in that, respect. They need to -be told who the legislative leaders are? How they feel about racing? And what should be done." Taxation was the theme of George D. Wideners brief, but cogent talk, which in many respects paralleled the address of I Judge Dooley. Both men pointed out the ! discrimination revealed against racing in Washington when this sport was singled out as the only one that did not obtain relief from the substantial cut in federal admission taxes. Perlman pointed out that at present a racegoer in New York pays .65 in state, city and federal taxes on a clubhouse admission ticket, for which the race track receives .30. At the same time, only 30 cents of a .30 baseball admission ticket goes for taxes. Widener and Bell united in putting much of the tax problem directly in the laps of the commissioners. The Jockey Club chairman said: "You gentlemen are the states representatives in racing. Study the facts and advise your governors and state legislatures of what they are doing. Try to convince them that now is the time to take stock of one of their most lucrative sources of revenue before it is too late." Take Hurts New York Racing Earlier in his address, Widener had pointed to the steady decline of New York racing from its top position since the take has been increased from 10 per cent to the present 15 per cent, of which the tracks only receive 4 per cent plus 40 per cent of the breakage. This increase, Widener said, was in spite of the "very aggressive opposition" of the New York commissioners. In that connection, Perlman pointed out that in New York, harness tracks receive 7,900 from the first 00,000 wagered, while the thoroughbred tracks with their vastly larger purses and expenses receive only 5,920. There seemed to be a unanimous recognition that the people of racing, which includes the commissioners, are themselves largsly responsible for the inroads of taxation, which have reached a point where the chairman or The Jockey Club can say solemnly, that not only would a 5 per cent federal tax wreck the future of racing, but imply that such a tax is an academic issue because "the increasing demands of state governments will most surely destroy it before the federal government can possibly enact such legislation." Widener then said, "I must acknowledge that the fault no doubt is the failure of those interested in racing to fight." One gained the impression at this mornings session of the commissioners from 25 states and three foreign countries that those in racing are now beginning to fight, and, perhaps, to fight hard. National Publicity Office Urged Ed Sullivan, publicity director of Suffolk Downs and president of the Turf Publicists of America, strongly urged the formation of a national racing publicity office, which would be nationwide in scope and aid the public relations of racing and breeding in all mediums. Sullivan pointed out that racing was the only major industry which did not have such a national publicity center and pointed to the successes achieved by . Continued on Paae forty-Seven Attacked by NASRC Speakers Plan to Form Committee to Oppose Excessive Levies; Menne Elected President Continued from Page Six the National Association of Manufacturers and by the brewers with institutional advertising of a sort that could be of great value to thoroughbred racing. Sterling Young, speaking for the Jockeys Guild, of which he is national secretary, delivered a brief address, which is printed in full elsewhere in this paper. The former rider said that the jockeys appreciate the sliding scale of fees recently put into effect in several states, and which on Monday became law in Louisiana. Young also defended the new apprentice rules, limiting the five-pound "bug" to 100 winners, with | an additional two pounds for the duration of the contract when the boy is riding; for the contract holder. Young declared that only 8 per cent of apprentices last year rode more than 100 winners in their first season. The prepared address outlining the lip tattoo method of horse identification read by Edmund P. Coffey, vice-president of the TRPB, is published in full elsewhere in this edition. Jerome V. OGrady,. of the Pinker-tons; described the "night eye" or "chestnut" system approved by The Jockey Club extemporaneously, with the aid of slides. OGrady spoke on behalf of Dr. James J. Manning, director of the Crime Prevention Laboratory of the New York Police Department, who has developed the system of classifying and codifying the photographed "chestnuts," in a manner similar to the present universally used fingerprint systems. Identification Systems Discussed In fairness to both sides in this controversial subject, it might be mentioned that Coffey declared in his address that the "chestnut" system had been tested and found unsatisfactory by the TRPB, while OGrady, who* was the first to speakr said that he had not anticipated any derogatory remarks from Coffey, so had not made any himself. OGrady theri produced a set of lip tattoo photographs of the horses Indicative, Sally Boots, Hilarious, Trephine, Fleece and Turfs Toy in which the tattoo numbers were unreadable. These photographs were shown to this writer, to Mr, Widener and to commissioner Cole. OGrady also stated that the lip tattoo on the horse Counterfeit, who finished second in yesterdays fifth race at Aqueduct, was also illegible. Concurrently with the NASRC convention, the Association of Official Racing Chemists is holding a conclave at the same resort hotel. The chemists sessions opened yesterday morning witruDr. Roger Trues-dail of California presiding as president. The first days sessions were devoted primarily to business matters. Racing chemists were in attendance from 16 states, as well as representatives from Ontario and Quebec, Canada; Mexico, Cuba and the British West Indies, while France was represented by Dr. Charles Lorman, a pioneer in racing chemistry. The second day of the eighth annual meeting saw the election of officers for the 1954-55 year. Dr. G. H. W. Lucas, serving the Province of Quebec, Canada, is the new president. The new member of the executive board is Dr. David W. Crisman, serving the Delaware and New Jersey racing commissions. The executive board as now constituted includes, in addition to Dr. Crisman, Dr. Roger Truesdail, California, chairman, Mr. Charles E. Morgan, New York, Mrs. Lewis E. Harris, Nebraska, and Mr. Michael Sullivan, Arizona. Scientific Presentations The morning session was devoted to various scientific presentations. An address entitled "Massive Dosage of Drugs- to Horse" was given by Dr. David K. Detweiler of the veterinary school, University of Pennsylvania. This topic was especially timely in view of the possible use of large doses of drugs in racing. .. The scientific papers dealt with research activities of the various members. Mr. Peterson of New York presented a paper on the "Fate of Drugs Used in the Doping of Horses." One of the highlights of this days meeting was the presentation made by two racing chemists from Brazil — Dr. Lauro Solero and Dr. Olivero who were guests of the association. They have been experimenting with a new method of analysis which they brought to the meeting for the information and criticism of the association. Their experiments make use of a technique which has had wide application in other analytical phases of chemistry. It is known as paper chromotography. A special type of a porous paper is used to separate and concentrate the drugs from the samples of liquid obtained from horses. The members of the association will now take this procedure arid in their own laboratories subject it to rigorous study. If it proves satisfactory under such conditions, it will be added to the many techniques already in use by the racing chemists. Wednesday, the chemists will meet with the commissioners in joint session, while the NASRC will also hear an address on "the importance of Veterinary Research," by Dr. Mark Allam, dean of the veterinary school of the University of Pennsylvania. The extra-curricular activities of the commissioners and their families continue at a festive pace. Last night, Marcus Levy and Charles Munn, of the American Total-isator Co., .hosted the conventioneers at a dinner dance held at Tony Yomadis Homestead Country Club. Tonight, J. Samuel Perlman, on behalf of Daily Racing Form-The Morning Telegraph, will be host at a cocktail party and dinner dance at the Berkeley-Carteret, while Wednesday night, the delegates will be guests of the New Jersey State Racing Commission at another cocktail party, followed by a dinner dance, also at the Berkeley-Carteret.
