The Savannah morning news., 1903-10-16
NATIONAL TROTTING ASSOCIATION
MAY TAKE ACTION
TO SUPPRESS USE OF
DEVICE FOR TROTTERS.
RECORDS MADE BEHIND IT MAY
NOT STAND.


Used by Bicycle Riders Who AL
most Doubled Their Speed with
Its Use.
Wind shields will undoubtedly prove
bone of contention at the nextcmeet
ing of the National Trotting Associa-
ton, and many prominent horsemen
are of the opinion that the records
made during the present season by
Dan Patch, 1853; Lou Dillon, 300 Ma
jor Delmar, 200, and Prince Alert,
1857, with the aid of the new speed ac-
celerator, will not be accepted. Strange
to say. those drivers who have used the
wind shield with success are not very
enthusiastic as to it's value, while the
drivers whose horses have been out
classed by the new records claim that
it makes a horse two or three seconds
faster. There are endless opinions pro
and con, but just how much the new
device accelerates the speed of d horse
is an unsolved problem.
The shield originated with bicycle
riders, and several experts in that line
have expressed the opinion when ques-
toned on the subject that when there
is no wind the shield is good for two
seconds additional speed. For the first
time in the history of the light-harness
horse the wind shield was adopted in
races against time this season. 1t is
V-shaped device of canvas or metal
that comes down close to the ground
and extends a trifie wider than the
wheels of the cart that is hooked to
the runner and driven Immediately in
front of the speed trial horse. That it
is a speed accelerator there is no doubt,
but it can only be used in contests
against time, and then only by an ex-
perienced and dexterous race driver
who can both drive and properly rate
a runner.
Benefits of the Shield.
From the demonstrations of the past
season there is every reason to be-
lieve that the wind shield was an as
sistance of at least two seconds to
any trotter or PAGER going close to the
two-minute speed, and it is the opin-
ion of some that a shield can be
constructed so that it is possible for
a PAGER to follow it a mile in 1:55
or better and a trotter in 1:5S or bet
as much as he would be in going
a mile under natural conditions.
1t was the opinion of every horseman
that saw Prince. Alert, finish his mile
in 1851 at the Empire City track a
couple of weeks ago that no horse
that ever went d mile close to 200
finished under the line as fresh and
strong as he did the day he reduced
the pacing record. When Lou Dillon
began smashing records at the Cleve-
land track the reports made no men
ton of the sulky and runner sent in
advance to break the atmospheric re-
riStance, and the public was lead to
believe that the records which had
stood for years were being swept
away under natural conditions. Such
was not the case. however, and 1t
was during this time that the man.
agement of the Empire City track de-
cided that if records made under ar
tificial conditions have become popu-
lar the New York public were en-
titled to seeS the fastest miles that
the ingenuity of man could assist in
making, and the result was two world S
records.
Secretary Alfred Reeves. of the New
York Driving Club, with long ex-
perience in bicycle racing, knew the
value of the wind shield, and when
he rugged the now famous wind shield
and gave the horse that followed the
runner the protection of few more
inches of canvas, records took an
other drop. Just how much the ad-
ditional canvas helped the horse that
followed is matter upon which horse
men differ greatly, but it enabled
Prince Alert to pace a mile three sec
onds faster than he had ever done
under natural conditions, and helped
Major Delmar clip the odd fraction
that the runner and sulky had left
lacked nm
Dan Patch's Owners Views.
The owner of Dan Patch has declared
that his PAGER is still champion as
Prince Alert had advantage of a few
more inches of canvas. But this is
only one of the many controversies
that the wind shield has started and
which the National Trotting Associa-
ton will be called upon to decide.
Alfred Reeves said when interviewed
on the subject: The wind shield is of
decided advantage to a horse, prob
ably three or four seconds when he is
properly rated, but l do not see why
records so made should not be Off
clally recognized. To be sure, we make
the task little easier for the animal
IN which we are all interested, but why
his time should be discredited simply
because he was given every possible
advantage is more than l can under
stand.
Prince Alert has gone with the wind
shield, and there is no reason why
every other horse in the country should
not be permitted to do likewise. If
II is an advantage to Prince Alert, 1t
IS certainly of advantage to Dan Patch
or any other horse who is struggling
against Father Time Nevertheless,
do believe that the governing body
OF the sport should make a rule stat
ing Just how many square inches of the
wind shield should be carried by the
pacemaker in front, so that wind
shields should come within a reasonable
unit. Records so made should, in my
opinion, be placed in a class by them
suVss hut by no means should be dis
credited.
IL Ooes seem to me that in an effort
10 beat time we should give the horse
every possible advantage within rea-
son and l do not think it is unreason-
apIe TO give him any shelter that does
ioI look ridiculous on the track. IL
Tds some six or seven years ago that
saw the wind shield used for the first
ulne by bicycle riders in Paris. Its
ossNdntage was so apparent that 1t was
.Iopted almost universally by the men
r %no rode bicycles. When the idea ar
5Yeu IN this country the riders imme-
raleiy started wearing heavy sweat
o., ana built their machines so as to
go si. the greater amount of wind-re-
tHg surface. 1t was then that the
srhing body ruled as to the size OF
- ing machines, and this rule is now