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New England By Fred Galiani Compound Sales Tax on Claims Hit Reduces Haltering to Minimum Seeking More Equitable Statute , NARRAGANSETT PARK, Pawtucket, R. I., June 10. — The state of Rhode Island, besides having the most number of racing dates in the New England area, also is the lone state in the sector which hits the matter of a sales tax on claims. Just as in New York, California and some of the other states, every time a horseman reaches into a race and claims "a horse, he must pony up 2 per cent of the claiming price as sales tax. This goes on each time a horse, including the same one, is haltered. Lets assume a ,000 plater is claimed 10 times for that amount in the course of the four .meetings in New England, the state profits to the tune of ,000. In New York the sales tax on claims, but only in the city boundaries, is three per cent, and like Rhode Island is in effect each time a horse is haltered. But there is at least one respect in which horsemen in Rhode Island 1 get a break over New Yorkers. "When New Yorkers take a horse in the state of New Jersey, where there is , no tax, or outside of city limits and then return to the Empire State, they are hit with a use tax if they are residents f of New York city. Rhode Islanders at least escape that. But the persistent tax on the same horse being claimed is a different matter Isadore Bieber, in New York, along with others have been fighting1 for some years now to effect a change in that statute. Certainly the rule as it applies in Florida is more equitable. In the Sunshine State, only the person who claims a horse for the first time in a season pays the sales tax. Any subsequent haltering on the same animal is free of charge. But the continued application of the tax, here as in New York and California, may be the reason that the total of claims for the past three days have dipped to one. After all, you may get the same horse for less at Rockingham in a couple of weeks. Oscar Garrigues, owner of the O. G. Ranch and breeding farm in Davie, Fla., is here for a couple of days to observe his horses in action. The Florida breeder came on from Wildwood, N. J., where he has extensive hotel holdings . . . Nino Calabro has got to wind up the trainer in the best condition at the whole Gansett meeting. He has four horses and a pony and every one is in a different barn. After he gets finished running from one place to the other, if hes not in condition to take on Pat Gor-dan, the assistant stall man, he had better go to the mule barn, where* they have his pony quartered. One thing is certain, hes not putting all his eggs in one basket Pat Farrell, Western Unions biggest customer, wires horsemen that nominations for the Laurence Armour Memorial, Polly-anna Stakes and the Myrtlewood Handicap all close for nominations on June 11. Gordon Morrow, who resides in nearby Pawtucket, is a fairly consistent observer of the situation here at Gansett, prior to . writing his condition book for the impending Lincoln Downs session in August . . . Ed Porter, an ardent admirer of the stallions Mel Hash and Kudos, was claimed out of business Thursday when J. E. Robertson haltered Closing Night, winner of the second race. Although Porter is now out of horses in training he still has two yearlings to concentrate his attention on . . . Memesia, a three-year-old filly purchased by Lydia Valentin, of the Bronx, at the Belmont dispersal sale, arrived here and was turned over to trainer Hugo Napoli to train . . . Rocco Sisto, who just embarked on the comeback trail after almost a years absence, hit the winners circle in the fifth race Thursday aboard Miss Ann Uhlars General Goya . . . Kensington Ted, saddled by Jimmy Ciccone to win at Suffolk the other day, was the first victory of the year for P. J. Gunas, the Manchester, Conn., manufacturer of metal products. Ronald Fisher, Fitchburg, Mass., rider, made his first appearance of the meeting on Thursday. He is under contract to Isaac Prickett and finished third on Noble Try in the seventh race... Pass Play, a five-year-old colt by Pass Out, arrived from Middleburg, Va., consigned to trainer Joe Gorga . . .Wardril, who won here"T;he other day, may be recalled by some as the missing thoroughbred at Water ford Park a couple of years, ago. Following a disastrous fire at the West Virginia track a few years ago, a couple of horses disappeared in the hinterlands, and it wasnt until three or so days later that Wardril was finally recov- Continued on Page Fifty-Eight New England By FRED GALIANI Continued from Page Nine ered. He was identified by the TRPB tattoo number. Tommy Bonham added to his stable, taking: over Putney and Peconic, who arrived from Belmont Park today. . .Morrie Sidcll, in from Maryland, has nine horses on the grounds with four or five more slated to join the string. The big horse in the barn is News Again, whose main engagement is in the King Philip Handicap on June 18. Earl Gross has already been signed to handle the stakes winner . . .Another recruit from New Jersey ar-* rived this morning with Steve Rowan sending in Kathye, Head Dress, Pet Bird, Red Coat, Eternal Quest and Mrs. Teeny ...Mike Freeman also increased his menage with the arrival of Envelope, while Jack Carrara got Count Trim, both of the racers arriving from Kentucky The freezing weather that has been in force here the last couple of days finally disappeared, which the. management hopes will bring out some of the fans who have been absent because of the cold spell.
