Los Angeles herald., 1909-09-19
HANDICAP RACING TO
BECOME PERMANENT
Trotting and Pacing Experts Plan to
Reetify Faults and Evolve Real
System from Results
of the Year

NEW YORK, Sept. 1S.-Trotting and
harness racing that has become fairly
popular, have disclosed two serious
faults, lovers of the sport agree. The
fields were too large at Readville, for
instance, for truly run races, and there
appeared too many unknown speed
quantities. Talk thus is common about
betteripg these conditions. and from
this years experiments may be evolved
a real system of handicap racing.
Both the trotting and pacing divis-
ions of the American Derby were won
| by horses on whom the Handicapped
had been deceived for the very good
reason that he had nothing to guide
him. Baron Alcyone, winner of the
trotting division, started on the 2:19
mark whereas he should have been on
about the 2:13 mark while Simon Ken
| ton, winner of the pacing division from
the PIP mark, was also too literally
| treated. 1t is probable that in future
| harness racing handicaps decided ht
Readville horses with records slower
than 2:12 will be barred, and that even
then only such horses as have raced
and won within year will be eligible.
Handicap races are designed to bring
all the starters close together at the
finish of the race, and not to give any
one horse a chance to spring sur
prise on the public. Let the horses
with slower records race in scratch
events and reserve the handicaps for
the tried performers. A. ]. Welch,
manager of the Readville track, has
practically declared that this will be
his system in conducting handicap
races in the future. Since trial heats
are supposed to constitute a hardship
on the winners by tiring them so that
they cannot repeat in the final, sys-
tenn could easily be adopted that would
divide the stakes into as many por-
tions as there are fields of, say, fifteen
horses, and make series of handicap
races, one for each day of the meeting.
That handicap racing on the scale
trotted and paced at Readville will
never become popular among light har-
ness horsemen is the opinion of many
enthusiasts who witnessed the events.
Much criticism was expressed. The
consensus of opinion was that the
horses placed in the rear in the big
fields that started had no chance to
win, owing to the track being covered
from fence to fence with horses which
had an advantage at the start. The
long delay at the post owing to vari-
Gus causes wore down the most unruly
horses, and when they did get away to
ragged start the fast ones were in
terfered with for nearly the entire
distance. The huge ball in front of the
grandstand that was to drop as a
starting signal stuck on it's way down
and several drivers, including Ed Geers
with Sterling Mckinney, lost several
seconds in getting away. Others went
off running and lost time in settling
their horses to the proper gait. All
agree that fast record horses had no
chance to get through the crowded
stretch when 1t came to the finish. and
all the drivers did was to get as near
the front as possible.
Conditions in the pacing event were
more favorable for the scratch horses.
The start was better and the leaders
did not bunch and cover the track as
in the trotting division. The distance,
As feet per second, is criticised as be-
ing trifle too far as no horse ever
trotted or paced at rate of As feet
per second, barring the PAGERS which
have beaten two minutes. Forty-four
feet per second are the figures for a
two-minute horse.
The time average at Readville, COM
pared with the other meetings down
the circuit this season, follows: