The Saint Paul globe., 1904-12-15
TURF VAR CLOUDS
OVER new ORLEANS.
Track Followers of the Cres-
cent City Await
Strife

s a p -
. NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 14-The one
question that promises to agitate the pub
lic. mind here for the next two months
is that of the possibility of turf war
brought on by. the New Orleans Jockey
club. The members of this club are di
vided among themselves, and since their
failure to obtain recognition from the
Western Jockey club the, differences of
opinion have grown almost to a point
where a split in. the ranks may occur.
1t lis quite within the range of possibility
the bofder spirits of the association will
gain control, in which case clash with
the club now in control of the local situ-
. alton may be expected. :.
& President Heaslip and his immediate as
sociates announce themselves for peace.
That is they. are. unwilling to connect,
I themselves with a movement to begin
racing without the sanction of the West
ern Jockey club. This division of the
club proposes to press it's claim for dates
by recourse to the courts and, failing to
achieve their purpose there, to await a
to the Jockey club with another petition.
/ The other faction of the club believes
itself strong enough to conduct a winning
tight, and as early as Tuesday morning
began forming plans to bring about a
conflict with the Crescent. City Jockey
club.
Mortgage on the Property
:. All along it has been represented that
the club had strong financial backing but
s the Developments of the last few days
leave this open to question. A mortgage
of $4,000 Is hanging over the track. and
that mortgage is in hands that will strong
" oppose movement that would tend to
lessen the value of the property. Others,
too,- who are financially interested will
protest against such action.
Meanwhile the racing at the fair grounds
goes on, and the management of the track
4 interested In mo oIo- ff,
eliminate the troublesome path than in
hgurfng the possibilities of turf war.
Last year. when new drainage was laid,
IL was thought the problem was solved.
There was no path last year, but that was
due to the fact that there was little rain.
This season the first continued rain
every race run on the extreme outside of
the track On that one strip, and few of
them truly run. Naturally there is much
dissatisfaction as well as danger for jock
eys and horses.
= In point of consistency of winning the
most prominent horses of the meeting are
James Arthur's Gus Heidorn and Hart
Dernhams Spencerian The horses from
the East were expected to dominate ev-
erything, and, indeed, they have taken
their full share of the purses, but the
East has yet to show such honest mate
rial as the two named Dernham left
New Orleans last winter with string of
horses of little account after q hard sea-
SON. This year he has come back with
SevefaI OF the same horSeS and few
others that have placed him in the front
rank of prominent owners. Gus Heidorn
is easily the star of Arthurs stable, and
in that string are several handy horses.
Mr.. Arthur has been extremely fortunate
during the last week in drawing for his
horses the outside positions, and he has
not been slow to profit.
Jack Martin is easily the best of the
riders. In number of winning mounts he
ranks second to III. Phillips, but there are
few good judges who will deny him the
right to claim the top of the list in the
question of ability. Martin is essentially
a money rider. 1t has become a matter of
notice that when he is intrusted with
the mount on one of the many good things
the Eastern horSenen have turned loose,
his efforts have been those of past mas
ter
Early in the week Winnie O'Connor
came to town. Just back from success
| full season in France. O'Connor hoped to
get into harness within a few days, but
! so far has found no suitable opportunities
| because of his weight. He is the same
| bright faced, precocious Winnie, and yet
much improved over the sa;uey goun9gster Ter
the ears a few years ago. AS he says for
! himself, he has learned much in these
| two years abroad. He reports conditions
on the other side vastly superior to the
American styles, but for all that wishes
| himself snugly placed in this country.
| Speaking of the causes that led to his
/ acceptance OF an OIIeT 10 rue LOT Baron
Rothschifd last year, he said:
"I was driven out of this country You
may be sure had no desire to go abroad,
but what could do? The scale of weights
here is so low I could not earn decent
living. have ridden longer than any
| other jockey before the public, and am
as good now as at any time in my career,
but just because / weigh a few pounds
more than the youngsters Il can get a
mount only once in while. 1t has been
the same with many other of this coun-
try's leading riders. Look at Taral,
Danny Maher, Spencer, Turner, Mitchell
and others who have gone abroad. They
were leaders at home, and they have led
the lists every place they have gone, and
it is safe to say each of them would much
prefer to stay af home. Giving all due
credit to the little fellows who are most
prominent today, it is my belief the turf
here would be much better off if the scale
of weights was so pitched that those who
have learned by long experience could
continue here in the practice of their pro-
fession.'