The evening times., 1896-07-27
DESIRE HONEST RUNNIAG
Brighton Beach Managers Will
Investigate.
STRANGE REVERSAL OF FORM
Hornpipe's Performance Has Excited
the Suspicious of Tnrfmen-The
Betting Public Must BE Protected
at All Hazards-Bad Horse Owners
Not Wanted ON the Big Tracks.

New York, July 27.-The announcement
that the stewards Of the Brighton Beach
meeting have decided to investigate the
apparent reversal OF form disclosed by
Hornpipe and Set Fast In their races last
week Is generally regarded as an Indication
that William A. Engernan aud his asso-
tiates do not mean TO let the new steel
grand stand and other equipments stand
for all the improvements which are con-
tempiated in the effort to elevate Brighton
to the level of the best metropolitan
race courses
Tue line attendance last Saturday, fine
In point of quality as We'll as numbers,
attest the remarkable popularity OF the
old track at the beach, and with location
and equipments hardly TO be equaled any
where there would seem to be no reason
why the reIuvenated track should not take
rank with the Jockey Club courses, pro
yided clean and higb-ciass racing can De
maintained. Justly or unJustly, Brighton
has in years past been some what notorious
for starting reversals of form. Top-heavy
tavorites have sometimes failed to connect
in the most inexplcable manner, while
the same horses running at long odds have
romped home easy winners.
The Hornpipe episode was by no means
the strangesJ reversal of form ever seen aC
the Beach, but coming as the two races
came, close together, with the same Jockey
up in both instances, the Inconsistent per
| formance OF the Brooklyn Handicap, winner
| caused a lot OF talk amocg experienced
racing men, and it is said Inat Mr.. Enge-
man is determined to make a searching in
| yestigation.
HORNPIPE's DEFEAT.
Hornpipe's defeat by the very ordinary
horse Mirage on Thursday was Il big and
costly surprise to the talent who back ed
| Hamilton's mount with great confidence
| that day at short odds for the dash at a
| mile and IA furlong. He ran Ioor race,
was listlessly ridden, and was beaten
off Starting against better horses on Sat
| urday, with the odds to l agiBst his
! chance, he ran like a race horse, defeating
the Dragon at mile and a sixteenth in
| the fast time of Las, with Hamilton rid
| ing him like colored Archer.
| On behalf of Hcrnpipe and Hamilton IL
| is claimed that the horse was trifle short
o; work when he started on Thursday, not
| having run since the Sheepshead Bay meet
| ing, and that Hamilton made the mistake
| OF riding Il waiting race, thus playing
into the hands OF Mirage, who ca IN run nc
other way. The merits of the case will
| doubtless be scrutinized closely by Messrs
/, Swigert, Engenan and Battersley, who
are tie stewards of the meeting.
The most that is likely to be done in
| eitlcI tIlS case OF tHe SeV fdSt aIIalr
| TO refuse the future entries Of the owners
| in the event OF n finding against them, or
the revocation OF Hamilton slicense, should
! the case be referred to the Jockey Club
and the fault be found to lie with him.
The plan of refusing entries from own
| ers whose horses run in and out persist
| entity islook ed upon by many turfmen as the
! best means of dealing with cases where
| direct evidence of fraud is wanting OF
| where no cha nf actyaI fra,td
| is made
These turfmen hold to the belief that the
betting public should be protected at all
| hazards, and that when it becomes evident
that the horses OF a certain stable habitu-
ally lose at short odds and win at long
odds they should be invited to race at Iron
Hill or elsewhere than on the Jockey Club
| tracks.
The verdict is simply that such horses q re
| not wanted, and ifthe stable manager can
not send his horses to the post in condition
| 10 race at the distance prescribed he should
not be permitted to send them to the pos,
at ALL The same principle applied to Jock
eys would revoke their licenses independent
of any charge OF fraud when gross care
lessness could be shown.
STARTING MACHINE CONVERT.
Mr.. Engleman has become n convert to
the advantage OF using a starting machine
and it is said that the new gate which was
tried at Brighton for the first time last
Friday will be used after Tuesday TO aid
Mr. Flynn in all the races run during the re-
nainder of the meeting. The machine is
portable SO that ii can be readily shifted
from one point to another On the track.
Orders We're given on Saturday for
sockets, to be placed at all of the points
from which starts are likely to be made, and
1t is expected that the gate win be in con-
slant use as soon as tile fixtures can be
placed. Many of the starts were made last
week from the Western device, which
consists simply of n heavy strip Of rubber
stretched across the track, forming a bar
rier at tile point from which the start istobe
made.
When the starter shouts Come ont" the
assistant WHO holds the loose end Of the rub
ber let's go, and the horses break away
This simple device appeared to work well
when first broug ht into use, but the craft
runner soon learned that it would stretch
and after that some difficulty was expert
enced in getting them lined up. The boys
complained, too, that the tightly-stretched
barrier hurt their legs when the horses
plungedinto it or rubbed alongside.
l. The report which scanle from San Fran
cisco last week to the effect that J B.
Haggin had decided TO return TO the turf
with formidable stable is fatty contra
dicted by tile proprietor of Rancho del
Paso. Mr.. Haggin says that he is out of
] racing permanently, so far as the mainte-
nance of an extensive string is concerned.
The California turfman is not in good
health. He is summering at Newport
i -
Z nAl a