The Washington herald., 1913-06-08
By L.. ID. SALE.

BN Ia. ID. SALE.
Owners of two and three-year-old 191;
stake trotters. please get busy.
On what track they shall race and the
amount of added money received for
each stake are matters of secondary i'm.
portance. What is of superior import.
trained to the hour, and that they shall
be brought to the post sound.
The young horses enlisted in these
stakes represent so much capital They
represent earnest thought. and care and
expense, and anxiety as to their present
and future. serious breakdown now
means the elimination of future useful
ness for track purposes. The major part
of these youngsters are owned by men
OF moderate means, who are pinching
themselves in other matters of more or
less vital importance TO themselves and
their families in order that their colts
may have the proper development.
The two-year-olds of 1913. il they safely
pass the ordeal. will be raced as three
year-olds and the three-year-olds that
escape injury will be racing propositions
for 1914 and so on to the end of the
chapter. We take il for granted that no
man personally interested in these stakes
IS interested from purely sordid mo-
tive. Sportsmanship, in its ideal sense.
and sordidness were never congenial
companions. The honor of winning the
stake and standing well in the sum-
maries are of far more Importance TO
the true sportsman than the financial
end of the stake. Bids will probably soon
be received for the stakes. II is import
ant that the track association that wins
them shall pledge colt owners that the
track shall be safe to- race over, and
that it is or will be a member of one
of the recognized trotting associations.
Owners of tracks who desire to race
on the level. and who are anxious to
keep their tracks free from scandal and
mob violence, can present no valid eX-
cuse for acting outside of either the Ma
tional or American Trotting Associations.
for the protection they afford to track
owners is well worth the cost. The rules
Of these two associations are Gibraltars
of defense 10 judges who try to do their
duty; and a standing menace TO drivers
who consult their personal interests, rath-
er than the interests of the public. who
support racing, and without whose sup
port racing would die a speedy death. The
association rules, when administered by
honest and fearless judges. when the
track is a member of one of the tNo as
sociations in good standing, are the ter
ror of evil doors because the culprit
knows that the judges will be sustained
by the parent association, and by every
member of the association.
Racing, on the whole, is conducted on
a higher plane than was the case years
ago. before parent associations were
formed and rules formulated for the pro-
lection of the public and horsemen alike.
Ringing" or racing a horse under an
assumed name. was more frequent in
the old days. Now it is difficult to put
ringer over and get away with the mon
ey. To ring a horse in Maryland is
criminal offense; but We cannot now re-
call a single case where the perpetrator
of the crime has been caught red-hand-
ed an imprisoned. In each case the GRIM
fnal has made good his escape, 1t is acts
like this that breed contempt for all laws.
Racing, we regret to say, develops
some queer traits in mankind. Men who
aim to be honorable in their everyday
are prone to strange con-
science in racing matters. They do not
hesitate, as horse owner. to put one
over on a fellow-man, and. strangest Of
all, they chuckle to themselves and seem
to think they have perpetrated a good
joke. instead of a very reprehensible
trick 1t is such things as this that has
given racing a black eye IN this country.
and II is one of the many reasons why
the President of the United States and
his daughters, and members Of his Cab
met patronize baseball. and never trot-
ting meeting. The millennium, especially
in horse racing. is. we sadly confess,
quite a distance off. Why the poor
horse, who has borne our heaviest bur-
dent patiently and contributed so much
to our pleasure for unnumbered CEN
turtles. should be saddled. with all his
other burdens, with shame and grief by
the dishonest tricks of men is hard to ex-
plain.
By the way, who, beside his owner or
owners. among our thousands OF readers
every Sunday, knows the true history
OF the nifty bay pacing gelding. parad-
ing under the name of Franklin E.,
called, also, by some persons. Joe
Bailey? A good deal OF hearsay evidence
is being furnished about him-nothing to
his discredit, but much to the discredit
Of the man or men who manipulated him
in 1912. Hearsay evidence is, like high
explosives, dangerous to handle, recent
proof of which is the case Of Col Theo-
dore Roosevelt VS.. the Marquette, Mich,
editor, Newett The horse in question:
either Franklin E. or Joe Bailey, from
what We can learn, and. we are further
told, that after his race on a Baltimore
track last fan. he was purchased by
man for 500, equipments
thrown in. II is further alleged that,
after the sale, the reputed owner OF the
horse suddenly disappeared
II the gelding was an outlaw at the
lime he was purchased In Baltimore and
he penalties attached thereto have not
been regularly released by either Of the
wo trotting associations. then he should
rot as a matter Of morals and equity |
been started at Forestville. It Is true, |
track Is not a member Of the |
National Trotting Association As a |
natter of fact, 1t might as well race un- |
Ter rules of its own making. as It has no |
,lenary power to enforce the mandates |
If its racing judges. which 1t would have |
1t were member in good standing In /
,ither of the recognized trotting associa- |
ions. This. however. does not affect the