Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-05-01
BY JACK HARING

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Washington area return to
watching the symmetry of the
standard-breds in action Friday
night when RoSecroft Raceway
kicks of the 80-night season of
the Maryland pari-mutuel cir
cult
Although the fans viii be re-
ncwing many pleasant memories,
they'll also find a sore spot in
the sport is still with them. This
Is the problem drivers and train
ers spend more time trying to
correct than any other-the I'M
graceful and frustrating sight of
trotter or PAGER lapsing into a
break"
And it's a good bet the Mary
land season won't be more than
a few hours old when one of the
81 bettors turns a bit sour as
Ibis" horse moves up in the
pack to bid for the lead, th>n
suddenly forgets about the gait
he's using and breaks into
gallop.
The fan is likely to explode
to his buddy: Did you see that?
Now you can't tell me that was
an accident. Why. that horse of
mine was sure winner And
that driver deliberately made.
him break"
Too Much Risk Involved
It's tough job to convince a
fan unSchooled in the training
Of a harness horse that such a
break wasn't put-up lob. But
there are some good arguments
against talk of that kind.
Jim Lynch. Rosecroft's new
general manager. who has done
his share of training and driving
horses during a career of han
ding administrative details at
a number of tracks. puts it this
way:
II don't think any driver
would be foolish enough to maze
his horse break. There's too
much risk of a serious, or even
fatal. injury to himself and to
q valuable horse"
One of the drivers who has
spent the winter at the Oxon
Hill track training stable of
10 horses for competition comes
up with another potent argu-
ment.
Bill Hylan. in thinking of the
thousands of dollars investment
represented by each of his
horses and the hundreds of hours
spent in getting each prepared
to race, fatty states:
mo driver ever deliberately
tries to make his horse break.
Doing that would ruin a horse.
It's too hard to get a horse to
overcome habit like that once
you've got him trained to his
proper gait"
Use Corrective Equipment
Hylan points out that one of
the principal methods used to !,
combat breaking" is to expert
ment with various types of COR
receive equipment.
As result, many of the horses
racing at Rosecroft will be
decked out in more elaborate
equipment than football player
wears.
The big difference is that
reinsman outfits his horse to
save him primarily from him
self, rather than to save him
from opponents as is the case
in wearing football gear.
One of the most common
things a trainer must protect
his horse from is the habit
many have of kicking or brush
ing" legs with their hooves while
racing.
All sorts of boots have been
devised to ease the shock of
such kicks which often cause
breaking. These include boots
for the legs, either of cushioned
leather or rubber, such as knee
boots, elbow boots, tendon boots
and hind shin boots. There also
are some to fit over hooves, as
bell boots, quarter boots, coronet
boots and hind scalpers.
Another problem is the tend
ency of some horses to be dis
tracted by other horses, by the
crowd or by shadows or debris
on the track.
Use Variety Of Shoes
To combat the later problem.
trainers use a large sheepskin
roll. called shadow roll" above
the horses nose. This cuts of
the horses view of the track so
that he won't shy at shadows.
pieces of paper or other objects.
Keeping the horses head
straight ahead to avoid distract
ing influences Is aided by such
things as the head pole and
all types of closed brides which
prevent the horse from seeing
what goes on to the sides and
back of him.
Many different types of shoes
are tried out, especially on colts.
in an attempt to eliminate
breaking. A heavier shoe often
helps at first. Then there are
styles such as the nat shoe,
half round. full swedge, full