The sun., 1919-11-02
SUCCESS OF RACING
DUE TO OFFICIALS
Handicapped, Starter and Sec
retaries Work Hard to
Make Contests Keen.
HONEST AND COMPETENT
vosburgh, Cassidy and Fitz-
gerald Enemies Of All That
Is Crooked.
HONEST AND COMPETENT
by HENRY ". KING.

Jockey II Is @ trainer. But Few or the
thousands of racegoers who frequent the
tracks in these parts ever have good
word to say about the officials. And to
some of them the sport owes much
of Its success. They are really the men
behind the guns, and the only time their
names are mentioned is when the public
believes they have made mistake.
Then they are severely criticized and
censured.
To satisfy all those who patronize the
sport the officials would have to be In
fallible; even then there probably would
be some who would disagree with them
and shower them with harsh criticism.
The public Is not on familiar terms
with the stewards, the judges, the sec
retaries Of the different associations, the
starter or the Handicapped, and a ma
jority of the patrons have no idea Of the
amount of labor some of them do to
make the game a clean, high class and
popular sport.
The officials keep themselves in the
background but they are not autocratic,
rs 1t is generally supposed. They are
approachable, and at all times are will
ing to answer fair questions. OF course,
there are some things they refuse to dis
cuss. All Of them have the best interest
Of the sport at heart and at times they
matters Is best for the game. Often
their reticence seems unfair to the pub
lie. and there are occasions when official
statements from them would prevent
ugly rumors, which do the sport no
good, from going the rounds
Competent OmciaIs.
While all of the officials from the
steward to the patrol judge have re-
sponsible duties to perform. none has
such perplexing tasks to perform as
Walter s. Vosburgh. the Handicapped. or
Mars Cassidy, the starter. On them
the very life of racing depends. Either
could come close to wrecking it in one
season. But fortunately both are COM
petent, honest and hard working men
men above reproach.
The racetrack Is the home of loose
talk and scandal mongers. Almost
every one connected with the game
comes in for a severe roast" some
time or other. Often righteous. honest
owners. trainers and Jockeys are re-
ferred to as thieves and blackguards.
But never has there been breath Of
scandal connected with the names of
Walter Vosburgh or Mars Cassidy.
ar. Vosburgh has been criticised for
putting too much weight on some horses
he accused of having an Interior motive
or of being unfair in his work.
Mr.. Vosburgh .was born near the old
Jerome racetrack seventy-five years ago.
He first went to the races in 1866. when
a mere lad, and all of his leisure mo-
ments were spent on the famous course
near his home. He early made friends
with Charles Bathgate, famous horse
man of that day, and 1t was only nat
L.. %
information pertaining to the thorough
bred.
This he put to good use when he ac-
copied a position from Elisha A. Buck
on the Spirit OF the Times. He was a
contributor to the columns of that SPLEEN
did journal under the nom de plume
of "Vigilant' from 1881 to 1890, when
he resigned to accept an offer from John
A. Morris, who had put more than two
and a half million dollars into Morris
Park, the home Of the New York Jockey
Club.
Made landscapes I'm 1890.
Mr.. Morris was a generation or two
ahead of his day in turf control. He
recognized Mr.. Vosburgh's ability and
offered him the position of Handicapped.
Mr.. Vosburgh's work was so satisfactory
in the spring Of 1890 that David d. With
ers, who controlled the destinies Of Mon
mouth Park, asked him to adjust the
weights for the programme at the
course near Long Branch.
In 1891 the board OF control to govern
the conduct Of racing in the East and
OF which John Hunter was chairman,
was formed. This organization, which
ultimately developed into the present
Jockey Club, assumed control over the
sport on the courses in New York and
New Jersey, and Mr.. Vosburgh was
made secretary. He was secretary pro
tenn In the period when the Jockey Club
was being born, and in 1894 he was
made racing secretary and Handicapped
OF that body.
He is in class by himself in his par
ticular vocation and enjoys the conf
dence OF horsemen and public alike to
the fullest. He has framed many of
the rules OF racing. Occasionally arti
cles from his gifted pen appear in the
turf Journals
Mr.. Cassidy probably has been more
severely criticised than any man on the
turf He even has been Missed and
"booed" by thousands of racegoers. In
some cases he deserved criticism for his
bad starts. but during the thirteen years
he has been the starter on the metro
politan tracks he has never been accused
OF deliberately making a poor start. All
racegoers. even those who disagree with
his methods. win become indignant and
belligerent IL his honesty is questioned.
He is honest and all patrons OF the turf
know IT, He doesn't bet on the races
and has no interest in contestants alter
they leave him at the barrier. He
doesn't even look up or down the track
during a contest and he seldom watches
a finish. Often he doesn't know the
different winners until after his days
work is over.
Nerve Wracking Job.
His Job Is nerve wracklng one and
only a man mentally alert and plfysi-
cally we'll could hold II a fortnight. To
start big fields of fractions thorough
breds day in and day out is a severe
task and when the horses are ridden
by crafty jockeys bent on stealing I'M
fair advantages or by dull minded and
unruly lads who refuse to obey his
orders II Is almost an impossible one.
But despite his nerve straining lob
Mr.. Cassidy Is nearly always bright and
cheerful He has keen sense of humor
and sympathetic nature Before he
took the Job jockeys were fined almost
every day and the boys lost from $40 600
20 100000 year He stopped the filming
business. He doesn't believe I'm takins
money away from the lads and ~ a
Jockey deserves severe punishment he
suspends him. Sometimes II seems az
n he Is too lenient with the BOYS. MANY
OF them try to steal away on him ana
few behave as they should, but he sticks
TO mis- method OF lecturing them or