The Anaconda standard., 1899-01-29
Race rack and
Stable Gossip

Inc curse of the trotting turf re-
marked Matt Dwyer to group of light
harness experts, who were discussing
the question the other day in New York,
mas been In the judges stand. A ma
1ority of the officials of trotting asso-
Citations are aware of the truth of my
remark; in fact, if you talk to them in
| dividually, they are down on the pres
ent system of running the judges
stand; but somehow they play along
In the same old rut, no one appearing
anxious to assume the lead in a reform
effort. But I can tell you that the vol
ume of sentiment in favor of employing
expert professional judges is growing
SO strong that associations will be
forced to give heed to it.
Every season witnesses some most
outrageous decisions rendered by in
competent men, who are placed in the
judges stand simply because they hap
pen to occupy an influential position in
the community, are possessed of wealth,
are stockholders in the association, or
hangers on put in the stand to get them
out of the way. They are judges at but
one meeting, are unfamiliar with both
horses and drivers, as rule, and look
upon their being in the stand as a sort
of picnic.
"On the other hand, it is matter
Of vital Importance to the drivers.
Their bread and butter depends on the
! decision Of men. who. through lack of
knowledge in the racing game, ignor-
| ance of the rules, and with no RESPONSE
bility, may lightly judge matters that
will ruin mans reputation for life and
take away his means of earning liv-
ing for his family. With paid pro-
fessional Judge in the stand, who real
ICES the responsibility of his position,
unjust decisions would be rare, and dri-
vers will hail his appearance with
greater joyfulness than the Children of
Israel hailed their release from bon
dage."
Yes" spoke up another trainer, II
know of men who have made failures
in every business they ever undertook.
One especially, whom I call to mind, as
a last resort went into the whiskey
business, and failed even in that, be-
cause he took the Jim jams: but being
good at nothing else. they drift into the
judges stand at their local trotting
meeting. / remember a thing that hap
pened to me on a track in Maryland. /
dare not tell what track, for the rea-
son that If / should ever happen to go
there again they wouldn't do a thing
to me. only give me the worst of it.
well, they had a little undertaken
from Washington in the judges stand.
He seemed to single me out for mark
to show his authority and knowledge of
the business. We had scored down
three times, and each time 1 had been
third man; but he ordered me to stay
in front of the stand, and as the horses
scored down, he gave the word Go
while my horses head was turned the
other way, and, of course, / had no
show to win. I asked one of the Off
cials Of the track who the judge was.
oh, it's an undertaken We borrowed
r.l.s
material, and he's a friend of our
mayor That's the sort of material
that generally gets into the stand"
II had a similar experience" said
another widely known and respected
driver. II was at Greenville. Pa I was
driving a mare that couId pace in Els
or 2:17. Ed Geers was there with
Moonstpne, who could go in 2:10 or Pill,
and IEknew I had no chance to beat
her; but felt sure of getting second
money. In the first heat we went to
the quarter pole like double team.
Then Moonstone drew away. AS
knew I had no chance to win, and not
wishing to kill my mare, I did not push
her. Before the second heat started,
the judges called me up, and one of
them said:
"'see here, want you to turn around
and win this race.
ct wish I could do So I replied
You can take me out There are scv-
eral good drivers here, either of whom
will do the best they can; but l Will
hold you accountable if I do not get
second money Again cautioning me
to win the race, he let us go. The re-
suit was the same as in the first heat
I was called up again and talked to
horribly. He said he would not take |
me out: but wanted me to win.
II reiterated that 1T was impossible
for me to beat Geers' mare. |
We're the best judges of that he |
replied. But after some serious con-
fab among themselves, they took me |
out and put Johnny Goldsmith up, ;.nd |
the heat was almost a repetition of The |
others. Afterward l learned hat
friends of that smart Alec judge held
all the pool tickets on my mare to vim"
Talk about purifying the turf" said |
another: 'the place to purify it is right |
in the Judges stand. Drivers who know
all about the business have to put up |
with Judges who know nothing about it |