New-York tribune., 1905-01-16
KING AND CROKER.
robustness of the Charges against
the Jockey Club Shoson.

the Jockey Club Shosen.
Ihe attempt made to ascribe the action Of ,bs
- Ius % OF the Jockey Club in barring Rich
arc " Crokers horses from being trained at Newman
Aet meath TO his having bid successfully against
King Edward at a sale of yearlings held at New
market last September is preposterous 10 those
who have any knowledge Of the conditions which
prevail on the British turf. and especially in the
Jockey Club, while Lord Durham IS the chiaf of
its Srfumvirate of stewards. The Jockey Cuh is
the most Independent organization of the kind in
the world and absolutely secure from the in
huence either one way or another on the part Of
the reigning monarch that it has time ana again
backballed candidates whom he has proposed for
membership whom he most anxious to get
elected. and who might possibly have got in had 1t
not been for the fact that they were proposed and
backed by royalty. In racing matters the King
ceases to be a sovereign. and has stand
ing or pull than any other member OF the Jockey
Club and, Lord Durham pointed out in his
speech at the famous Gimcrack Club dinner the
other day at York. Edward VII shows the example
which every sportsman in England interested in
honorable and straightforward racing should fol-
low, OF voluntarily submitting to the jurisdiction
OF the Jockey Club.
II must never be forgotten that when King George
~ was all powerful Regent of the British EN-
pire, and his horses were run in a questionable
manner, the Jockey Club did hesitate, after due
investigation, TO bar them from Newmarket Heath
and from all racecourses which it controlled at the
same time depriving both his trainer and his jockey
OF their licenses. Moreover, members of the Jockey
Club now living. such as. for instance. Lord
Rosebery, Sir Frederick Johnstone, Leopold Roth
sehild etc. have repeatedly their horses against
those OF King Edward and defeated them. subject
ing thereby the monarch TO heavy financial loss
and TO severe disappointment.
L is ridiculous therefore to believe that the stew
ards of the Jockey Club of Great Britain would
have permitted for one moment the action of Rich
ard Croker in bidding for yearlings against King
Edwards representative Lord Marcus Beresford
at an open sale. 10 influence their course with re-
gard to the former boss Of Tammany Hall. The
measure to which the latter has been subjected by
the Earl OF Durham and his two fellow stewards OF
the Jockey Cuba measure from which there is no
appeal. and which will injurousy affect the Croker
stable not only in England. but also in Ireland
and in all the countries of Continental Europe
must be ascribed to entirely different reasons.
What these reasons it is difficult to say. since
the stewards of the Jockey Club decline to furnish
them and restrict themselves the statement that
the training grounds at Newmarket are the CLUBS
private property and that the club does not wish
TO have Mr.. Crokers horses trained there
LORD DURHAM \ WATCHDOG OF THE TURF.
Lord Durham. man OF lofty sense Of honor
especially IN everything relating sport. is great
character IN his way. and may be described as
one of the watchdogs of the English racing world
He is fierce and relentless in his denuncatlon OF
anything that appears be in the least bit crooked
or even suspicious. the turf. and 1t may be re-
membered that by memorable speech which ne
delivered some years ago the Gimcrack Club din
ner in York, calling into question the methooS OF
the stable and of the running Of the horses OF DIT
George Chetwynd, he virtually forced the baroheI
TO sue him for libel with the result that Sir George
withdrew from the Jockey Club Lord Durham was
mainly responsible for the action of the club IN de-
clining TO grant license Tod" Sloan and 10 GER
tain other American Jockeys who had incurred the
displeasure Of the stewards and is identined Win
a measure which has for its aim the abolition OF
the rule which permits assumed names TO be reg
ietered Lord Durham declares that there are over
aftv race horse owners racing under assumed
names many Of them with the object OF decelVlnS
either their creditors, their employers or ther rel
atives According Lord Durham, the plan en-
courases dishonest" and he declares that 'an
assumed name on the turf is useful in the main to
people whose character is so bad that tley caiio'
race under their own names
Lord Durham has inherited his irrtability and his
aggressiveness from his grandfather the first earl
The latter enjoyed the reputation OF being the most
cantankerous man in the House of Commons on
which account he shipped off TO Canada as lts
first Governor General and when he declined 10
remain there any longer and came home he was
created in hot haste a peer OF the realm in order
to prevent at all costs his re-entering the Com
mons.
Indeed there is much in the character of the
first and present Lord Durham that recalls their
ancestor. who according to local tradition rid the
district in which Lambton Castle, their country
seat is situated Of a terrible dragon by which 1t
was infested arming himself for the fray with a
coat Of mail studded with raZors their edges
turned outward. This hero and his peculiar armor
are commemorated by an ancient and somewhat
uutilated efhgy at L.ambton Castle, and the razor
studded coat. somehow another, seems IN Keeping
with the character and the manner Of the Lords Of
Durham.