Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-16

those who now own a pair of hopples
and the horse that goes with them
could unload the whole outfit on some
body that was willing to drive the
horse on the road and pay attention TO
getting green horses going square with
out their use. In the second case, own
ems would soon realize that hoppled
classes were not successful, and the
straps would drop out of use as rapidly
as they came into fashion.
Somebody has said that hopples are
the lazy mans harness. They undoubt-
eddy tire a horse, sometimes they chafe
him, and always the straps make bad
mess out of a break. Many of the first
class reinsmen viii not drive horse
with hopples. Ed Geers Is one of this
number, Mart Demarest is another.
PROFESSIONALLY hopples depreciate the
value Of any horse, and the associations
win move wisely when they take some
step toward their ultimate abolish
ment.
The other matter deserves fully as
much attention. Some means should be
devised to prevent the laying up of
heats in a race, 50 as to influence the
betting and enable the owners Of a
morse to increase their winnings. This
is not a very easy matter to get at, but
shortening up the distance flag can
partially accomplish this although it
works an injustice 70 the horse that
makes bad breaks occasionally. One
| proposition is to make the distance
where six on less horses are competing
80 yards; between seven and twelve
horses, so yards, and over twelve horses,
70 yards. But, better than all this
shorten up the race itself. Let the
money go as the horses stand after the
end OF three or at the most five heats,
and then they will all be after each
heat.
H. F. Famham, manager of the Rigby
race track, is in difficulties with the
National Trotting Association. Farnham
conducted the New England fair at
Portland last August, and his manage
ment called forth considerable criticism
at that time. Now he has been charged
with accepting conditional entries to
swell his lists for the Rigby meets. Man
ager Farnham does not deny that he has
been accustomed to receive conditional
entries, but undertakes to mitigate the
offence by saying that other track man
ayers do the same. Secretary John F.
Barrett of the same track is already
under expulsion, and if Farnham shares
his fate, the track will undoubtedly pass
under a new and it is to be hoped better
Lewis G. Tewksbury announces that
his two fast PAGERS John R. Gentry,
2:001a, and Robert j., 2:011a, will not be
exhibited on the tracks next season.
The old gold and black combination did
not prove so popular as Major Tewks-
bury had hoped, and so Robert j. is to
be retired to road work, while John r.
Gentry will be campaigned against the
fast ones in the coming season. Gentry
will be campaigned by E. r. Bovine,
who drove the pair all last season, and
will undergo his early spring prepara-
tons at Hartford. He will be entered in
all the grand circuit free-for-alls, and
may be started against time later in the
season Robert ]. is now II years old,
has won races from the Atlantic to the
Pacific and as a race horse always was
Gentry's superior. But now his age is
against him.
Frank T. Fowler who made his home
in this city last year while manufactur-
ing the Trinity bicycle, encloses in a
personal letter to the writer clipping
from one of the Chicago papers which
would go to show that Mr.. Fowler is
more than holding his own against Chi
cago's fast ones. He is driving Miss
Maymo, 2:121h trial in races 2:1O) and
Clara King, 2:16A, on the snow path
there. He used them on the road here
last year, but did not bring them on
from Chicago until the close of the
sleighing season.