New-York tribune., 1900-11-11
ENGLISH SPORTSM EN-.
PEERS WHO LAVISH MONEY ON RACING
BUT NEVER BET
HONEST JOCKEYS APPRECIATED-TRICKE
PUNISHED EFFORT TO DISSOCIATE
SPORT FROM SPECULATION

princes, great mobiles and knights encountered /
one another in friendly contests governed by |
the same unwritten laws Of chivalry. honor and /
fair play that should constitute the funda- |
mental basis Of the ethics of the turf at the
close of the nineteenth century The racecourse /
of today has much in common with the lists |
OF the Journeys in the Middle Ages. SO while IT
is impossible to indorse the sweeping denuncia-
ton OF American Jockeys by the EarIs of Ions
dale and of Durham, nor yet the slurs of some
English sporting newspapers anent the intro
duction of certain practices unjustly described
American. one cannot do otherwise than ap-
prove Of the efforts being made in the United
Kingdom at present dissociate sport from
mere gambling and speculation. to eliminate the
questionable methods and sharp practices of the
Bourse and maintain unirnpalred those prn-
ciples of honor and fair play without which a
racing stable may be placed on the same level as
gambling hell.
1t cannot be denied that there is a tendency |
nowadays to regard racing more business |
than a pastme sport. This is because
methods which considered legitimate in
business but which contrary to the sense
Of fair play and to the laws of sport have made
their appearance upon the turf. From the |
moment the money question is allowed to pre-
dominate this is bound to occur. and when
"raking in big piles" rises superior to all other
considerations 1t is not astonishing that un
be employed to achieve the end in view.
THE TRICKS OF JOCKEYS
1t is almost impossible to bring home to any |
stable, even to any individual owner or en-
poye thereof. charges Of unfair dealings no |
matter how loud and positive the voice of
popular accusation how great the moral |
certainty OF guilt, There so many ways by |
which for instance, q Jockey lose race |
besides by deliberately pulling" There are |
some Jockeys who make a speciality Of pushing |
their mounts for all they worth In the first |
part OF the race. that they are utterly cx-
hausted before the finish, coming in among the
trallers Other jockeys arrange to get pocket
ed" only emerging from the bunch when It |
is too late to catch up with the leaders These
are only few Of the underhand practices that /
1. is almost impossible to prove against a |
jockey
AT Brussels a few winters ago the Jockey /
Elub made the discovery that the running Of
every race was arranged in advance 10y the six or
eight principal Jockeys OF the Belgian turf who |
formed a species OF syndicate and were wont
to meet on the evening before each race day nj
an English tavern for the purpose of deciding
who should win. AS they were thu. leading |
Jockeys and as such had the best mounts the
AFFAIR was not difficult for them to arrang.
similar conspiracy had been uncarthed short
une before in Austria, the discovery in each
case being due to the fact that one OF the
jockeys had betrayed his cOnfedcratcs AS q
general rule, however, jockeys do not work in
unison with one another. and when one Of
'hem Intentionally prevents his mount from
winning 1t is usually because he has hr.,, .Gxol,
by some representative OF a syndicate of bunk
makers or because h" has some heavy bets ,,f
his own the race
From the moment a jockey is permitted 10 h..,
on a race IN which he rides his riding u.,.s-
sar1ly becomes open to suspicicn and the prjn-
cpal fault found in England with American
jockeys IS that they bet heavily and OPENLY ON
the races in which they ride The result is that
ulcks common among nearly all Jockeys Euro
peah as well as American and which in ordi- /
nary circumstances would be merely ascribed tn
misadventure, bad judgment or to a bona dde
determination to win at all costs assume the
aspect of dishonest practices Jockeys shouId
be forbidden to bet, directly or Indirectly NADER |
the penalty Of losing their licenses and heine !
warned OFF the turf OF course it would he dir |
ncult to enforce such rule. But the very fact |
that regulations of this nature exist I'm severaI
OF the great racing stables Of the United King
dom shows that it can he done
RACING WITHOUT GAMBLING
The late Earl of Portsmouth, owner Of ono ~
the most successful and celebrated racing sta
Dtes IN EUROPE made 1t a practice never to bet
himself nor to permit ary one in his emplov to
Will