The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-10-13

There is Il famous trottins question. a
question which has never been solved. 1t
IS. How 10 Make Harness Racing More
Popular"
Various plans have been advocated. but
all resulted in the same old features.
wearying the patrons, and unsatisfactory
financially TO the managers. The follow
ing letter by a weli-known horseman gives
Il few valuable hints toward the solution
of the perplexing problem:
ITO my mind the most Objectionable
feature of harness racing has been. and
always will be. the wearying. at times ex-
asperating. delay consequent upon scoring.
After several. IL not more. years of turf
experience in all its phases. 1 have become
thoroughly convinced that the most essen
tial. feature in the line of reform and
progress Is to abolish the present system
of starting horses. and practically adopt
the European method OF standing start.
slightly modified. One very important
feature to recommend is that it is equally
fair to all. No playing Of favorites in scor-
ing by a starting Judge.
Take the horses up the track and have
them brought on a walk on q line 200 yards
from the judges stand and start them As
the horses will be on their stride at the
wire. they will go a faster mile than II
scored to death.
SOUHe uTlNcIS Nll Edy l Sdh 6SS "s
horse to walk and various other objec-
tons will be made. all of which can read
fly be disposed of by telling the drivers to
keep their horses at home. and manner
them before bringing them to the post.
american horses exported to Europe with
American drivers up make standing starts.
We certainly can do the same here. In tim.
ing. time by the first horse past the stand
able high-class horses should favor the plan.
for every experienced horseman knows that
nine-tenths Of the crippled horses. with
curbs and all bursal engagements. are
caused by rapid turning and scoring, and
then rushing to secure q good position Tor a
start; then, when called. the horses. neces-
sarily are taken too suddenly back. A fair
average Of distance in each score IS fuliy
a quarter Of Q a n mile , 50: 1t Is n,s really snii'ra ssm mark
tally as we'll as physically by prolonged
scoring. Scoring not only worries and an
noys the attendance, but too often defeats
an honest effort to win a race.
Again, let a good horse become favorite
in the betting over a good field OF horses
experts at jockeying. and watch the scor-
ing. for here IS where the generals of the
turf usually worked their system; first one
and then other will come down ahead Of
the pole horses. destroying the score, while
in the meantime the fayorite Is getting a
quarter Of a mile scoring every time. and
coming down at all, keeping his horse fresh
for the hard end of the race. A few fines
Tor delaying the start cut no nSuIe, 4 tne
stake Is a good one. 1t is almost anything
to beat the ~favorite. Not only Is jockeying
in scoring avoided by the European method,
but we escape the tedious delay arising from
loss of shoes, adjusting checks. sponging.
broken sulkies. etc.
There can be no question about the
racing life of a horse being prolonged by
the standing start. To prove this assertion
we have only to look at the continuous per-
Torrance from many seasons of horses in
Europe. that many of our posted horsemen
know were practically knocked out before
leaving America. They can be attributed
to nothing hut the European plan of racing.
avoiding misunderstanding scoring. I am
aware that the change IL a radical one and
will meet with much opposition. but vir-
tually 1t Is the system that obtains upon
the running turf. and 1t does not seem to
lack the element Of popularity in attend
ance.
Really the bane of a harness race is the
jockeying in continuous scoring Of large
starting. Why not start them. then. If
as they do the runners? 1t will be fair to
all, sure to please the attendance and in
crease your gate money, which means also
added p~roportionate value to all association
privileges. Privileges amount to nothing
without the people. Trials against time are
virtually from q walking start, 200 yards
from the wire. In a trial against time a
horse virtually starts zoo yards from
the Independently the same as in a
match race. Mile heats. three in five. with