New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-16
TROTTING- TURF RINGERS.
THE BOARD OF REVIEW FULL OF BUsI-
NESS CAUSED BY THEM.


Any one listened to the proceedings at the recent
meeting of the Board of Review Of the National Trottng
Association in New ork must have been impressed by
the large number Of ringing cases brought be-
fore this turf tribunal for adjudication and settle
ment in one way or another During the hrst TWO
days Of the session Chairman Johnston and MS
associates spent most Of their time reinstatng men
who had been expelled from the turf for trotting
horses with fast records under assumed names. and
in modifying confirming penalties imposed Tor
this offence national tracks throughout 'he
country.
Ringing is an old trick among INSCRIPTIONS trot-
ting horse men, and In spite of all measures yet
devised for its suppression the game appears to
be on the increase The temptation is strong when
q good horse has gained a record which puts MN
in q fast class where he can no longer w'n' 10
spirit him away to some remote locality where his
identity is likely to be discovered. start MIN
under name in the class for horses that
have never beaten 800 and gather in the money
in jog. In territory Of such vast extent as
the United States and Canada, where there are
1000 horses on the turf taking part In more than
1000 trotting meetings 1900 different tracks In
a single year, the odds in favor OF the cunning
outlaw who lodges about from one circuit TO an
other with his ringer. and while the proceedings
of the Board Of Review show that a good many
of these masqueraders are brought TO book IN the
course Of a season. horsemen who follow the cam
pagn agree that the great majority get away with
the booty unpublished. If not undetected.
The Small Hopes affair, which stirred up the
horse world nearly twenty years ago. was doubtless
the most noted of ringing in the history OF the
trotting turf. until Bob Kneebs made his dis
astrous descent the German tracks with Bethel
last summer; but neither OF these raids is 10 be
compared in point of success with the masquerading
tour Of Blue Belle, who went through. three cam
pagns in New-York. NewEngland and Canada,
winning more races in 1885 than any other horse
on the turf. and finally going into retirement with
the fact still undiscovered by the National Associa-
ton authorities that she was In reality Mia e.,
with a record made out in Iowa under this name
in 1882 Even to this day the official record-book
issued by the Hartford office contains intma
ton that Mia G. and Blue Belle were one and the
same animal. and comparatively few horsemen
know anything about the affair." for the reason
that its complete success prevented wide publicity
In all probability this noted campaigner might
have gone on indefinitely getting unlawful WIN
nings under her assumed name--for she was as
good as ever in her class when retred-if II had
not been for a circumstance in connection with
her breeding, which put the pedigree hunters on
her trail and finally brought about her exposure.
When the mare made her first appearance on
Eastern tracks she was entered as being by Will
sons Blue Bull. who then rivalled Rysdyk's Ham,
bletonan the leading sire Of trotters and
whose every new 2:3O performer became at once
a subject of special interest among breeders. As
soon as Blue Belle entered the standard list.
therefore. the stasticans started in to trace her
back to the man who bred her and there verify
or disprove the claim that Blue Bull was her sire
They could learn nothing about the history OF the
mare from her owner. W. r. Kendall who was
suspiciousy retcent this tender subject. and
who after he saw that the Blue Bull cross was
causing too many troublesome inquiries. started
the story that Blue Belle not by Blue Bull at
ALL but by Harold. the sire of Maud S. The search
was further complicated by the fact that there
were at this time less than four Blue Bellies on
ba turf of hem
Of them said to be by Blue Bull
John II. Wallace. the compiler OF THE Trotting
Register" searched for nearly two years for the
facts about this mysterious campaigner before he
finally happened upon the right trail Learning
that fast Blue Bull mare answering Blue Belle s
description had been formerly owned by s. F..
Gilman of Davenport, Iowa. Wallace followed her
through the hands OF host of successive owners
in Iowa. Indiana. Wyoming and Nebraska to
James W. Page, the man who brought out Rarus,
and who had campagned this Gilman mare as
Mia G.. in Utah. Colorado and the far West,
afterward bringing her to New-York City for sale.
The next step traced the suspect plump into the
hands of Kendall but IL did prove her identity
with Blue Belle. Curiously enough this
established beyond question by barbwire wound
of her legs. just Bob Kneebss interna-
tonal ringer, Bethel, was recently rounded up in
Berlin by means of Of the sort. Ken
dali had got to the end of his rope when this ex-
posture came in January. 1886. and he never at
tempted to start his mare again She had already
upward Of fifty races, however. that her
could we'll afford TO retire and avoid the
trouble which would have confronted him If he
had started out on another campaign.
While Mia G.'s ringing tour is by far the most
successful record. there have been many others
In which both horses and men escaped with the
money before the exposure came about. The case Of
the fast Clochette (217lD is Of interest TO
New-York horsemen. She suddenly disappeared
from the Southeastern circuit in the spring of 1892
reappearlng at Philadelphia late In the autumn of
that year. Meanwhile mare answering her descrip-
ton and purportng to be Lady Passmore. by Peter
Pindar, bodied up in Ohio and won lot OF races
in the slow classes taking record Of 2:25l2 A few
months later It came out that the genuine lay asg
the vicinity Of New-York In 1892. and c. y; Payne.
Passmore was Ciochette sailing under false colors
This Is not admitted by the man VINO then Owned
the American Trotting Association, says he, has
Passmore, and says he will stop the daughter Of
Chester Chief II she attempts to start again. Lady
Loiie r in the Texas circuits with entire success
meetings In Illinois as Medina during two cam
81 lesser noSe might be cited show f that the
primitive machinery of the troiting associations is
inadequate TO stamp out the pirates who now In
fest the tracks in certain sections -.,. .
,s to the s In Of ne
have been passed through the influence Of Leading
turfneD making II pententldry OHence 10 KNOW
ngly start horse OF his proper class but these
penal statutes appear 10 be failure In their practi
cal workngA the courts having ruled that records
an. pei .oi lnances cannot be proved by the Year
Book other publication by the official reports
on he In the Offices Of the trottng associations.
This makes IL necessary to produce witnesses VINO
saw the horse his record under ms right
name-a matter of extreme difficulty. as the per-
formance may have taken place years before on
track remote from the place Of trial.
The well-known starting Judge II. w. Burress, oil
Boston, talked to Tribune reporter few days ago
the subjecs of ringers and how to stop them. lie
said:
II do not know thai the percentage OF ringers
Is on the increase. taking all the tracks together
but there certain sections Of country which are
simply by the outlaws. Canada Is full oil
them SO Is Long Island. and in some portions OF
Ohio Indiana Illinois they are altogether toe
plentiful. Texas always produces bountiful har'
vest while Alabama, where ] have been ever since
the Northern circuits ended. is almost entirely free