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KENTUCKY VIEW OF RACING IDEALS Lexington Ky May 20 The following under the caption The Way to Extend Racing was published as an editorial in the Lexington Herald and It may be said to quite generally voice the sentiment of the people of the Blue Grass region of Kentucky A bill creating a state racing commission and permitting racing under the supervision of that commission has been passed by the Legislature of Colorado and will become a law without the gover ¬ nors signature We have not seen the act as passed by that Legislature but as those Interested in its passage wrote to Kentucky for copies of the act creating the racing commission of this state we presume it is in substance as is the Kentucky bill if in fact oiot a cops thereof thereofEach Each state that permits racing under a bill giving proper authority to the state racing commis ¬ sion and Insuring the appointment of gentlemen and sportsmen as members of that commission in ¬ creases the probability of the resumption of racing in other states And as the probability of the ex ¬ tension of racing on the highest plane increases so also increases the obligation upon the members of the state racing commission and the officers of the racing associations in Kentucky to maintain racing in this state on the highest plane so as to set an example for other states to follow followKentucky Kentucky is far more interested in the re establishment of thoroughbred racing than is any other state When racing was in its prime over eighty Kjr cent of all the thoroughbred mares and stallions used for breeding purposes were in Ken tucks If racing is reestablished it will mean that the thoroughbreds that have been retained in Ken ¬ tucky will increase many fold iu value and there will be an increased demand for farms to be used as breeding places placesHad Had not the state racing commission been cre ¬ ated the parlmutuels required and purses given by the associations increased under the orders of the state racing commission racing in Kentucky would have been destroyed as it was in so many other states Now that there seems more than a fair prospect of the example of Kentucky being fol ¬ lowed that commission and the officers of the racing associations in the state should set an example to the other states that will insure the maintenance of racing wherever established on such a plaue as to prevent hostility lieiug aroused arousedAs As we have stated previously and as is conceded by all the wave of hostility to racing was aroused because of its control by gamblers instead of by sportsmen the prevalence of poolrooms and hand ¬ books and the enormous profits made by some of the racing associations Crooked racing will not be tolerated H must be os free from suspicion as was Caesars wife Every possible step must be taken to prevent the recstabllshment of poolrooms and handbooks The associations must do all within their power to encourage public interest by offering stakes and purses that will attract the highest class horses and justify men in purchasing and racing the highest class horses horsesSome Some of those financially interested in the racing associations maintain that the stockholders thereof are entitled to a large percentage of profit on their money because the are engaged in a hazardous en ¬ terprise as the value of their property may be greatly depreciated by adverse legislation It Is true that there may be adverse legislation But the surest way to safeguard against such legislation is to maintain the sport on a high plane to give such stakes and purses as will lead to the best contests to make improvements that will please the race going public and to insure the elimination from the turf of any man who is a detriment thereto theretoIn In one of the New York papers recently there was the statement that the nobility of wealth must assume control of racing in America as the nobility of birth had controlled in England This is purest folly The nobility of honest sportsmanship must assume control of racing in America or else it is doomed On the race track every man is equal whether he be king or commoner whether he be millionaire or pauper A prince of the royal house was ruled off the turf In England There is no nobility of wealth iu America there Is a nobility of honest sportsmanship and that must control Racing cannot be commercialized and retain Its hold on public sentiment There are but two possible justi ¬ fications for racing one that it leads to the im ¬ provement in horses the other that it is a clean outdoor st orr These two objects must hereafter always be kept In view to keep it free from the control of such influences as almost led to its ex ¬ tinction tinctionTho Tho breeders the owners and the trainers of thoroughbreds are the ones who must watch with unsleeping vigilance to protect the sport upon which depends not only their livelihood but from which they gain their pleasure We believe the future of racing is much brighter than do many of our associates and our belief Is founded on our hope that the racing men have learned the lessons that should have been learned from the experiences of the past ten years yearsHonest Honest sport free from control by gamblers generous purses and numerous stakes by the asso ¬ ciations certainty of prompt punishment for any man who violates the conditions of tho turf and racing will be continued in Kentucky and be ex ¬ tended to other states
