Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-03-28
TO GIVE FREE
MATINEE TODAY
|. A. DRIVING CLUB ARRANGES
FOR PLEASING EVENT
PRIZES WILL BE BLUE AND RED
RIBBONS
In This Contest Records Of Horses
VIII BE Kept, SO Future compe-
tltions Will BE Guided by
Classification
By DAN PATCH

The Los Angeles Driving club VIII
give a free matinee Saturday, April q,
at which the prizes will be ribbons
blue for the winner and red for the
place horse. The entries for these races
close Wednesday. March 81.
An innovation that Will be introduced
az this matinee as an experiment-anul
If 1t proves popular with the horsemen
will be adopted at future matinees-is
the classification of the horses by their
matinee records instead of placing them
according to the marks credited to
them by the speed committee. Though
the speed committee always has been
very conscientious and painstaking, II
could not possibly know just how GER
tain horse was doing at the time the
entries closed, whether he was short OF
work, or had trained off; and conse-
quently a horse was often put in a
race with others that he could not pos
sibly beat; or, on the other hand, he
might be classed where he could fall
down and win. In either case the speed
committee was held responsible and
unjustly was accused of all kinds OF
favoritism. This led to lot of con
ditional entries" which are prohibited
by the trotting rules. Such as: This
entry is void If So and So starts in my
race.
Horsemen Would Be Informed
Under the proposed system each own
er would know before he entered his
horse Just about what horses he would
have to race again. For the nrst Two
or three matinees the chances are that
the slow CLASSES will be at the ..-ercy
of some one horse, which though IL
may have no record at all and therefore
be'eiigible to the 2:30 or 235 class, may
have speed enough to step in 2:15 or
better; but he will soon be driven into
the class his speed entities him to and
M n nj
of the distance. Just as horse on the
professional circuit may be eligible to
the Merchants and Manufacturers
stake for 1924 trotters at Detroit, not
having a record better than 2:23H, yet
able to step three heats in 2:0S; but
having once taken that record, he is
forever barred from competing In a
slower class. and when his owner finds
he can no longer win he sells him and
gets something that can.
This will be done by members of the
matinee brigade here. When they have
developed a trotter from a slow class
into a fast one and proved him a good
race horse, there will be plenty of
chances to sell him for long price-as
in the case of Kid Wilkes; for matt
nee record is rfb ban on the Professional
tracks-and get something else to be-
gin over again with. Thus they VIII
have all the fun of seeing some young
their amusement as well. And the pub
lie will come out in force to the races
to see new horses compete instead OF
the same old ones week after week.
This would seem to be the first step
toward reviving the trotting horse IN
ferests, and no better time could be
chosen now that the running horse
game has received it's quietus In the
state. owing to the gambling feature
that is a necessity to that branch OF
sport. Harness racing, not being de-
pendent on the "play." should now re-
ceive boom such as lt mas not exp ts
rienced in years, and California should
resume the place it once had at the
head of the list in breeding and raising
the highest class of standard stock.
Horses and Horsefnen
Mort Demarat, who has been sue
cessfllly playing the ponies here all
winter. left for Frisco last Tuesday
with quite a bunch of the bookmakers'
money. He intended being present at
the Chase sale at Pleasanton Thursday
to see If he could pick up something
useful for the eastern tracks next sum-
mer. and will stay in San Francisco,
PLAYING the runners till it is time for
him to leave for the meeting at PIN
Iico track In Baltimore, Md. When the
grand circuit opens he will sidetrack
the bangtails and go back to the trot-
tiers, POSSIBLY cdHipdlSilih6 q NoNfiS -.
a well known running horseman. May
he get hold of another Prince Albert,
Owing to the rain last week a good
many of the horses at Agricultural
park missed their regular workouts, but
as some of them had raced the week
before at the matinee and all had been
worked for q month or more previously
thew can stand short ietup.
Nesmith who recently came TO tnlS
eity from Missouri and brought.a num-
her of young we'll bred trotters with
him. has one light chestnut years old
that is attracting attention at the track
by the way he has of going.
C. A. Durfee has troubles OF his own.
His good colt, DO. Lecco, has for some
unaccountable reason got all tangled up
In his gait, and the veteran has to draw
largely on his apparently unexhausted
store of patience every time he works
him. and all his spare time is spent In
deyising some means to get him back
to the pure frictionless way of going
he had before he let up on him.
NE ]. Delorey is driving his new 2
year-old Zolack colt every day round
town, showing him the sights and get
ting him familiar with automobiles, fire
engines, patrol wagons, Salvation Army
bands. etc. He is a good looking, big
upheaded colt that so far has shown no
desire to pace.
Walter Maben had piece of ba6siuck
with his sister to Zomalta. He turned
her out in corral with another mare
that was considered perfectly gentle,
but for some reason she wheeled and
kicked the Zombro mare just above the
back.
.'