Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-23
THE HORSES FUTURE
What Will Become of the American
Thoroughbred?
THE SURVIVAL OF THE FI4TEST
Views Of Two Experts From a
National Standpoint.
ABOLISH STARTERS AND POOL
ABOLISH STARTERS AND POOL

Apropos of the races, 1 have talked with
Uncle Sam and with Senator Blackburn
concerning the future of the american
thoroughbred and the American turf.
No one will question that the Kentucky
Senator is an authority on this subject. He
comes from a locality where good horses
are as elementary principles of right living
as are pretty women and good whisky.
But that Uncle Sam has any interest in the
turf may surprise you.
Uncle Sam talked with me in the person
of DR.. Salmon, chief Of the bureau of ami
NAL industry of the Agricultural Depart
nent.
Legitimate Racing.
THE purpose of racing is not compre-
hended by the minds of the majority" said
DIR. Salmon 1.-The turf has been so con-
spicuously identified with gambling as to
create the impression that there is little
legitimate, and nothing positively good
about horse racing. This Is narrow view
AS a matter of fact, legitimate racing
serves business interests, and even the in
terest of the nation itself. Without the OPP
portunity the turf offers of realizing profits,
there would be small incentive to the breed
ing of fine horses, and while thorough
bred, under ordinary conditions, is valua-
bic chiefly for the sport he yields to men
OF leisure, he is of very grave Importance
TO the country at large in time of war; OF
course, horse bred and trained for racing
purposes is not the thing for the army, but
strain of this blood is indispensable.
The government has never done any
thing to encourage horse breeding, though
II is IN the province and power of the bu-
reau of animal industry to do this. should
request and appropriation be made
Future of the Horse.
asked DIR. Salmon If he sees anything in
the signs of the times to indicate that the
horse is about to be left behind, to share
the fate of the mastodon. ichthyosaurus and
similar attractions of the bone display of
ths National Museum.
ION the contrary said he, my opinion
is that the greatest possibilities of the
American horse are yet to be realized. Va
riouS inventions of the age, the bicycle,
electrical and other motor contrivances
tend to reduce the demand for common
stock, which will be permitted to gradually
be social distinction, which men will pro-
tect and develop as they do everything
else that is matter of Standardization.
moreover, there will never be the delight
Tor man in d bicycle race that there is to
be had in horse race, nor half the salts
action sitting behind the steering wheel of
a self-propelled electric carriage that he
knows to holding the whip over a high
bred pair. so that something in human ma
ture unites with the conditions of the sur
vival of the fittest to perpetuate and per-
feet the horse"
Senator Blackburn on the Horse.
Senator Blackburn very naturally re-
CARDS the horse and racing from the stand
point of the great breeding district from
which he halls.
YES" said the blue grass statesman,
there is a great future for the American
thoroughbred, and the American turf, in
spite of the unfortunate conditions to which
la fturn
stones of morality and immorality-have re-
duced the sport. This meeting of the
Jockey Club at Washington is sign of the
return to better times. The present, how
ever, is full of discouragements. There is
no denying the fact that horse racing had
almost ceased to be sport. and had passed
into the hands of blackguards who manipu-
lated it for the purpose of maintaining pool
rooms on every street corner, up every
alley, and in the rear of every saloon. This
has had the effect of reducing the actual
merit of a horse to SO little Importance
that the eastern racing centers are now ar
rayed against the great breeding centers OF
the west We breed and train horses out
In Kentucky, but We look to the large rae
ing centers of the country to exploit them
We haven't the large cities and the great
crowds which warrant hanging up purses
sufhcient to attract fine array of horses
Horsemen are money makers. They go
where the big crowds and the big purses
invite them. But now New York state and
New Jersey have closed their tracks Mon
mouth track, one of the best in the country,
is the last to close.
Effect In the West.
This has had it's effect In the west. The
Chicago derby is Off Corrigan's track, at
Chicago, has been closed. This may be
due to the fact that Corrigan is not regard
ed as the best exponent of turf sport At
all events, there are to be no races at the
Hawthorn track. This has been followed
by stimulation of turf interests at Cincin-
natl, Latonia, New Orleans and San Fran
cisco. There are iberalizing tendencies at
those points. But after all, it Is the eastern
centerS that determine the development of
our thoroughbred stock, and as it is now
the price of our colts has fallen one-half
This cannot last long. Breeders are not in
the business for the fun of it, and some
thing will have to be DONE
You do not believe the doom of the
horse and the turf Is approaching?" I said
BY no means" the Senator answered
1--WE cannot do without the American thor
oughbred. 1t is established beyond any
question that the thoroughbred outlasts
two generations, and into the third genera
ton of common stock. That being admitted
it Is simply a matter of economy and self
interest to preserve the thoroughbred
horse. It is a measure of broad public
economy, not only for the race track but
for all the uses to which the horse is put"
T" Save the Thoroughbred.
What can be done to bring the sport up
to a proper standard?" asked
There are just two things which can
be done, and must be dohe in my judg-
ment, to save the thoroughbred, and to
put the turf onp a PREFER level In the
first place, the starter Hasyoo much power.
He can beat your horse before the race
opens. l do not mean to say that all start
ers are crooked. No, but they are human
beings with human, natures. They have
their friends and acquaintance, sometimes
in the pool boxes and the books. They
have likes and dislikes for the various
Jockeys. They are men of full information
on horses, and they have their natural pref
erences for certain strains of blood They
may be perfectly honest, and yet with the
very best intentions they may give a
slight advantage to horse which will give
him the race, or they may place a horse
at disadvantage and lose him the race