Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-08-06
Writer For Des Moines Horse
Paper Takes to Task Cedar
Valley Circuit Judges
LOCAL OFFICIALS CRITICIZED
Article Is the Result of the Judges De-
Gliding the Heat Of the 2:15 Pace, in
Which Bessie KS sulky Went Down,
No Heat-Finds Serious Fault With
Their Decision.

| In recent issue of the Spirit of the
West appeared an article signed On
| locker" in which the writer found SER
| ious fault with the decision of the
judges on the heat of the O.: pace in
which the sulky of Bessie K. was brok-
EN- and the horse ran away. The
| judges decided 1t no heat giving as
| their reason that all of the horses were
not driven out. The position taken by
the writer In the Des Moines horse
paper is the correct one. as every man
who was familiar with rules governing
harness horse races who was present
on the day the incident happened, knew
| He takes the judges to task for their
failure to comply with the rules. The
article referred to is given below in
| it's entirety:
Happening in Marshalltown with a
| little spare time on my hands and
| learning that it was the last day of the
races. took look in to see how things
were going in the Cedar Valley cir
cult and / ann satisfied that the man
| who first said there is nothing new
under the sun would have modified
| that statement considerably had he
| been there with me, and seen the ut
| ter disregard of all rules and turf law
| with which they are connected. In the
! first play will say, everybody had ac-
cess to the judges stand at any and all
| times-representativ of the press, dit
to the boolSmakers, horsemen. visitors
and others. Rule So to the contrary
! Notwithstanding"
| Talk about prominent citizen
judges - they certainly here in full!
force, as the second heat in the 2:15
pace demonstrated. There We're six
starters with Billy Boggs at the pole
Jimmy K. In second position, Vyzant
Star in third place. Miss Only fourth,
Bessie X. on the outside, and Reggie
| mont trailing the pole horse. AS they
| headed into the back stretch, after
rounding the first turn. somebody
Jumped on Bessie KS wheel, breaking
! it down and throwing the driver, Mr..
Anderson. to the ground. who, however.
luckily held on until the mare was Sc
who then went on and finished his
mile, although way behind the flag.
when Vyzant Star and Miss Only. who
had not suffered in the mix-up finished
In the order named.
And now comes the judges. gentle
men all. and of the highest integrity.
with verdict of no heat, thereby
H;uyr
full mile honestly and fairly. defending
their preposterous and unheard of
proposition on the ground that all the
horses were not driven out and now
ilet us see what the rules say about
this:
rule 50 reads, Every heat In a race
must be contested by every horse in
the race and every horse must be
driven to the finish, Should a rider or
driver be found guilty of violating
this rule he shall be fined, suspended
or expelled
Surely this covers the case fully, and
you will note that there is no discrs-
ton left with the judges-if found
| guilty he shall be- etc. Could anything
be- found palmer? And again, Rule 81
says:
THE judges may declare the deciding
heat of race no heat for interference,
collision or fraud"
But as this was the second heat OF
a three-in-five race, it could hardly be
termed the deciding heat. and there s
no authority anywhere in the rules
for declaring any other heat no heat
for any cause whatsoever. Vyzant Star
paced from wire to wire and won the
heat honestly and fairly, then why rob
him of 1t? And great credit is due Mr..
Martin for deliberately sacrificing
chance to win the heat in stopping to
secure Bessie K, as we all know the
danger from a runaway horse on the
track during a race, as good driver
never looks back until he has the heat
safely won and he IS liable to be cut
down any minute. | understand
protest was duly filed by Mr.. Lent and
Mr.. Russell. owners Of Vyzant Star and
Miss Only. against the decision of the
Judges, although section SO, chapter X.
of the bylaws says, No protest can
be made decision of the judges or
of a member, but appeals can be taken
but | am satisfied from what l have
seen that they couldn't tell the differ
ence between protest and an appeal
if their happiness depended upon it,.
- a