Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-17
FEW TURF SCANDALS
Regeneration Of Racing on the
Winter Tracks.
OFFICIALS ARE KEEN
ON THE SHARP LOOKOUT FOR
DISHONEST SCHEMES.
Formerly All Sorts CT Games Were
Played by the Crooks That own
ed and Ran Horses.

4 80 : <. 3
Very few turf Scandals crop out at the
winter tracks nowadays. There was time
when winter racing in tn 5 country wzs one
of those S-shaped jokes. But, as no kind
of racing can last long in this country
without public confidence, the expioiters OF
the winter tracks finally fell to cleaning
house. They got at this work just In time.
for the winter racing game had fallen to.
| the lowest possible or imaginable st1te.
The kind of men who virtually run the.
winter tracks just now is a guarantee OF
the cleanliness of the winter game.
Frank Bryan Is the presiding Judge and
all-around disciplinarian at the Crescent.
City Jockey Club track in New Orleans.
There isn't a cleaner more profoundly
experienced man connected with American
racing than Frank Bryan. His decisions
are characterized by the greatest justice,
but he is adamant in sticking to them.
Bryan succeeded, as presiding judge at the
Crescent City track, extremely strict
man. Capt. Rees When Capt. Rees laid
down his office lot Of turf scherners ana
shady Jockeys unauessonably imagined
that they were going to have soft thing
of 1t with Frank Bryan, who Is noted for
his good nature and availability, overlooking
things in the stand They were destined to
a bitter awakening. Bryan quickly found
a way of getting at every phony frame up
that was either scheduled to be put through
OF that ndQ aCCualy U56H put ClTOuSfi dHu
in a little less than no time after taking
hold he had corralfed, and ruled off, some
of the smoothest sharIers hanging to the
skirts of American racing. No jockey was
crafty enough to hand lemon, as the
saying runs. to Mr.. Bryan. He snagged
several Of the most prominent winter jock
eys who had fallen into bad hands, kept
some of them on the ground permanently.
and restored others after they had utterly
cast OF their evil associations. Bryan Is
SO incorrupttbly honest In all of his racing
dealings that he wouldn't tell his own
brother what he thought of the chances OF
a horse entered to run at the Crescent CITY
track. and. In general. he has put his end
of the New Orleans racing on a plane OF
honesty as hight not just leetle bit
higher. when 1t comes to that-as that or
the big New York tracks
Ed. Corrigan is the main spirit of the
other New Orleans track. called the City
Park track Corrigan has been battling all
his life, and he has perhaps more enemies
than any other man connected with the
game. but none of these enemies ever
dream of questioning Corrigans honesty.
Outwardiy, Corrigan is a huge. hard,
brusque Irishman. who seems to be wear-
ing chip on his shoulder all the time,
but. underneath. the man has heart as big
as bullocks. Nobody who knows the
man well could ever be brought to believe
that Corrigan ever turned shady turf
trick in his life, and he has been mixed up
with American racing for great many
years.
Frisco and Los Angeles.
Tom Williams, the leading spirit of the
San Francisco tracks, is a millionaire who
loves racing for the sake of the sport, ana
who would rather see EN- sweeping Into the
stretch than eat. But he Is harder than
Nint on the wouid-be turf crooks. whether
they be owners, trainers or jockeys 1t Is
due to Tom Williams that the horses that
run at San Francisco during the winter
race so marvelously to their form. VIII
liams enforces the rule of turf honesty with
a rod of iron. He is a big power in Cali
fornia affairs. entirely ASIDE from ms con-
nection with -racing. He has frequently
literally chased dishonest people conneeted
with racing clean out Of the golden state
He has been known to call jockey, who
had just turned an obviously crooked trick,
into the judges stand. and to say to the
crooked boy:
..Son you're down. You'll never ride an
other horse In this state. You'd better
mack up and quit the state of California"
And no boy or man-for Williams has
given the same strong advice to offending
owners and trainers-has ever failed to obey
hat quiet tip.
tually governed by Ed Cole. an eastern
man. who has had to do with racing in
every quarter of the world. from Australia
to Austria Anything crooked that gets
nv Coles .bfnoerlar Of the Argus lens has
got to be too teeny to be noticed. Things
weren't just exactly right with the Los
Angeles racing when Cole took hold Of it.
and throughout the country there has been
a suspicion that frane-ups were being
chucked over at Ascot with q whole lot too
much frequency. But the whole Los An
geles racing situation promptly simmered
down to conventional righteousness when
Cole took hold. and now the dead-games
who follow 'em during the winter know
that they can get bet down on horse
running at Ascot with just as much con-
fidence that they'll get as square run for
their coin as track In the
United States.
Old Turf Schemes.
"The winter game must look whole lot
Epworth League to the oJd-time turf crooks
who used to put their choicest lodges
through at this season of the year." OBJ
served seasoned trainer who Is wintering
a string at Benning, in commenting upon
the improved sanitation" of winter rae
ing.
..'The turf schemers used to find the VIM
ter picking easy as playing checkers with
your old maid aunt. When they went after
the cush they got 1t nine times out of ten.
They spent all of their time thinking up
new ones, and the ingenuity of some Of their
stunts was remarkable.
Years ago, at the old Louisiana Jockey
Club track In New Orleans, the artful
dodgers of the game would spring some
Kind of new gag every time the sun made
Its twenty-fonr jog through the skies.
1T was at that track that one of the
foxiest schemes for getting long price
that was ever cooked up received its
christening
There was a silifty-eyed owner down
there, fellow who used to toss In his
little white bunk for long nights at
stretch doping out new mofasses- getting
schemes, who owned a rafting coed five
furlonger The five-furlong sprinter was so
Internally good that he couldn't be kept
from copping his races by any means short
OF hitting him between the eyes with a
battle ak. On several occasions when an
approved and trusty jock with an inflated
sbiceps was up on that Splinter with in
structions to saw the horses mouth into
ribbons. the bookies, who had been made
wise by the owner In consideration of his
bit TO come when the horse .vst had laid
good prices against the skate. only to have
old dog refused to be snatched and made
spread-eagiing finishes, all by himself. So