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New Jersey By William Phillips Apprentice Situation Critical at Camden Not One Seasoned Youngster at Meeting Grogan and Cuffari Have Shown Potential GARDEN STATE PARK Camden N J May 3 This race meeting has a bountiful supply of everything but apprentice riders There are plenty of journeyman jockeys thoroughbreds and people passing through the turnstiles but no major track in recent history has encountered such a dearth of bug boys Not even one seasoned apprentice jockey has come forth In fact there are only eight novice reinsmen pres ¬ ently licensed by the New Jersey Racing Commission and three of these are still maiden jockeys New Jersey has never been a fer ¬ tile field for the novice saddle smiths but even so the current sparsity in the younger ranks is most unusual On Tuesday and Wednesday there were only two apprentice allowances claimed on each program whereas at some meetings it is not un ¬ usual to see nearly half of the horses being ridden by the younger jockeys jockeysThe The lack of new jockey material has been a growing problem over the past several years and several un ¬ successful remedies have been tried Most efforts to correct the situation have been halfhearted due to conflicting ideas on the subject The most important effort in this direction proved a failure Several states changed the apprentice rule to permit boys to ride 100 winners before they lost their five pounds allowance but the change has been unpopular and the rule faces repeal in most sections New Jersey incidentally was one of the few eastern states that turned down the 100winner proposal when it was introduced preferring the timehonored 40winner or oneyear limit limitKelly Kelly Has EnglishBorn Saddle Aspirant AspirantOnly Only one apprentice has ridden a winner during the first four days of this meeting He is Anthony Grogan who competently piloted Brookfield Farms Itobe to an impressive triumph on the inaugural card Grogan was born in Sussex England and he is 22 years of age New England owner W J Beattie brought Grogan to this country two years ago and Anthony now calls his home Atlanta Ga Grogan is under contract to Ed I Kelly trainer for Brookfield Farm and he appears the most promising of the crop at this meeting Harry Tornetta a product of Norristown Pa is the most seasoned of the young booters here Harry who is 17 began his career at Garden State Park last fall He won his maiden race at Narragansett Park but spent the winter on the farm where he broke and schooled year ¬ lings Tornetta weighed in at 115 pounds the first day of this meetings but on Wednesday he had worked down to a riding weight of 108 pounds He is under contract to James F Beattie BeattieJoe Beattiej j Joe Cuffari a 21yearold product of Montclair N J broke his maiden last summer at Monmouth Park He suffered a knee sprain that sidelined him shortly thereafter and is just resuming his activities at this meeting Joe is under contract to William J Sacco but last winter he was leased out to the Calumet Farm as an exercise boy Cuffari became one of the top exer ¬ cise boys for Calumet and trainer Jimmy Jones praises his ability highly Harold Bernard Brice Jr a 21year old who hails from Elmont L I was recently taken under contract by William Froehlich to ride for his stable here Harold rode his first winner on April 7 at Jamaica The four other apprentices licensed by the New Jersey commission are in the tyro class They include Lionel Lefevre 26 who is from Levis Quebec Canada and under contract to Arthur H Bowen James Albert Johnson 20 from Blountsville Ind under contract to George Ho well William Andrew El man 19 from Baskerville Va under contract to C R White and Edward Joseph Cape Jr 23 from Norwood Pa and under contract to E B Stewart StewartSkeptical Skeptical Kid Takes the Long Route RouteMrs Mrs Henry Obres Skeptical Kid was on a merry goround the last couple of days Through a mistake in orders he was shipped last Monday to Pimlico Today he is en route back here and he will start Saturday in the 25000 added Delaware Valley Stakes He will be ridden by Charlie Burr The stewards were satisfied in the manner in which East Acres Tanfran worked a halfmile in 48 from the gate on Wednesday morning and they have removed him from their banned list Tanfran refused to break here opening day and was pulled up Brookmeade Stables Encore who fin ¬ ished third in the Youthful Stakes at Jamaica is expected to check in here over the week end The son of More Sun is pointed for the William Penn Stakes Stakeshere here on Wednesday Jockeys Sam Boulmetis Henry HenryMoreno Moreno and Walter Blum each rode a double on Wednesdays program to keep them in a deadlock for top honors here with six winners each Outrider Red King is of the opinion that Beacon Stables Opaque is not a very grateful filly He reports that she bit the hand that led her going to the post in yesterdays third race and that he had to have his hand treated at the track first aid room Jack Purceli president of Puett Starting Gate Company made a pleasure trip here from New York on Wednesday Mrs Betty OTkmnell whose husband vatches over the 100 seller window for W Riggs Mahoney has returned to their Miami home where she will remain until the children complete the school term termThe The entries for Thursdays program were not closed until nearly three oclock in the afternoon Racing secretary Mathias Ty Shea effected a remedy to the situation by closing the entry office in the stable area this morning and forcing all horsemen to make their entries at the secretarys office in the grandstand The result was that the program was drawn and released before noon Several organizations are following their custom of previous years and are planning a days outing at the track Among the groups who will turn put in force are the Ivy Club Philadelphia Country Club Radio Electric County Detectives OHara Asso ¬ ciation Manufacturers Golf and Country Club Locust Club Fort Dix South Jersey Public Relations group and Philco Joe Regalbuto will ride Mrs Walter M Jeffords Singer in the Delaware Valley Stakes He also has three stakes engagements for the Happy Hill Farm coming up They are Dancing Fleet in the
