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Racing Officials Slate Organizational Meeting Expect Some 40 Top Racing Men To Gather in New York May 22 By OSCAR OTIS LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 11— Considerable speculation has been aroused in American racing circles by the news that some •iO top-bracket racing officials will meet on the 22d of this month at the Bilt-more Hotel in New York to organize themselves, and many officials who will not be able to be present, but who are in agreement with the plan, will send what amounts to proxies, into the "Society of American Racing Officials." We learn that the official reasons behind the organization are a hope that such an organization would accomplish something toward closer understanding between these turf arbiters and that by a freer interchange of ideas, perhaps the standards of American officiating could be upgraded. Those officials most interested in the organization are quite touchy when it has been mentioned that maybe this could be a sort of a union, or guild, or that the organization had anything to do with wages. It just isnt so. we are told on absolute authority. In theory, such a society could have noble motives indeed, but we cant get around the hunch that the society will Continued on Page Four California By Oscar Otis 1 Speculation Over New Official Society Freer Interchange of Ideas One Goal Firm Denial Wage Scales Are Involved Continued from Page One have some tough hurdles to surmount. For one thing, other than in New York and a few isolated areas in the United States, there is no such thing as true job secur ity for officials. In a few states, the state stewards turn over with a change in governors or administration, and one official who is replaced by another is not apt to feel too kindly to the man who replaces him. In fact, the most famous "stewards feud" in modern American racing history was between a really great official, in the opinion of his contempararies, judge Joseph A. Murphy, and the rather pompous Christopher J. Fitzgerald. And, like it or not, while wage scales for everybody in racing, purses for horsemen, rates for pari-mutuel clerks, etc., are up, in many instances the scales for stewards and starters and patrol judges are where they were 25 years ago. Hopes to Be Powerful Force for Ethics Actually, what the society expects to accomplish is nebulous except to the organizers and, to this point, nobody is talking much except to make the flat denial that it isnt a guild or union, nor is it a move to organize for more pay. Stress has been placed on the item that the society become a powerful force for ethics, just as the bar association functions in law. And the group opinion could become a powerful moral force in American racing, for without question the organizers are among the most respected turf officials in America, and we violate no secrets to say that this includes seme New Yorkers. The organizing 40, or thereabouts, are without exception men of long experience, and no minor officials, such as patrol judges, have as yet been included for membership. But patrol and placing judges, etc., may, in time, be invited in. Thus, membership in the society could become a sort of sterling stamp upon the man for possible consideration for a new post. In other words, it eventually could accomplish to a degree what the HBPA has been hammering for, a stewards pool removed, insofar as was possible, from local political influence. We can say for certain that the man who catalyzed general thinking into something concrete has spent a substantial sum of his own money, and a great deal of his time, to making this Biltmore Hotel conclave a reality. In fact, he and a few official friends and even some not so friendly have worked in unison for more than two years on this project. This catalyst of official thinking, if we may use the term in a somewhat unorthodox manner, is a man we know as an idealist in racing, and who, during his long association with the turf, has never compromised a principle for expediency. Nor were we surprised that the general outline of the society, as projected, met with national acceptance on the part of those officials who have been aware of the preparations. The announcement of the meeting caught some by surprise. Has Become a Professional Job Stewarding in America has, almost within this generation, become a professional job. The time when wealthy sportsmen served as stewards without pay, or, if paid, the money was meaningless, have gone and, we dare say, forever. The job is usually good on a per diem basis, but one has to take into consideration that many men do not work the year round, and unless a steward works himself onto a good "circuit," his annual take home pay is not high. Considering this, it is often remarkable that the turf has drawn the high calibre men it has. Of course. New York is a different matter, where most everyone works a long season, but in a state like California most stewards work only three meetings of the six major ones in the state. As a public relations force, we feel sure the society has a future that is more than bright, for, while some stewards are still hush-hush about everything, they gradually are disappearing, and the younger men in particular understand more clearly racings need to lay all the cards on the table. Nothing can be kept a secret in racing, anyway, nor do we think any good service is done the turf if an attempt is so made. It is our guess that the Society of American Racing Officials will be organized as more or less a "prestige club" and that its leaders will sort of feel their way along as to establishing the societys goals and how best to arrive at them. We do know that by training and temperament, the leaders are straight thinkers and not given to going overboard on any illogical or will o the wisp ideas. We venture the guess, however, that the society will become quite newsworthy after its organization is affected and it becomes truly operational.
