AMERICAN TROTTING ITEMS.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10062, 14 June 1898, Page 2

AMERICAN TROTTING ITEMS.

The Kentucky Trotting Horse Breeders' Association passed a resolution in response to advice from Major McDowell contained in an address, that N.T.A. and A.T.A. be requested to do away with the present rule againstlaying-up heats and substitute therefore : " A rule fixing the distance in races of mile heats between six or less horses at thirty yards ; between seven and twelve at fifty yards, and between thirteen or moro horses at seventy yards, and to affix a specific penalty for the violation of this rule by tracks in membership with said associations, of such severity as will ensure its strict observance." Major McDowell says: " The most important business of a driver is to win j the race, and it often happens that this can only be done by judiciously laying up a heat, and when such is the case is not the duty of the driver bo to act ?" Then why interfere if it be the duty so to act, by depriving the driver of the benefit ? Or, if laying up a heat is judicious, then laving up two, three or more must be superjudicious, an indie* tion of superlative wisdom that must insure the wonder and homage of all the spectators. The New York " Turf, Field and Farm " says :--The Burr Bill, to amend the penal, code in relation to the punishment of fraudulent entries and practices in contests of speed between trotting and pacing horses, has passed the Assembly and the Senate, and now. awaits the signature of Gov. Black. It is a good Bill, and we have faith that the Governor will sign it. Any person who knowingly enters for competition a horse under an assumed name, or oat of its proper class, or any owner or trainer who knowingly allows a horse in his control to compete in classes to which he is not eligible under recognised trotting rules, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, punishable by a fine of not less than £1(X) nor more than £300, or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.;- The bill is in the interests of public honesty and order, and should become one of the statutes of the commonwealth. An enforcement of its provisions will do away with the necessity of licensing drivers. A man who is convicted of ringing a horse will be punished more severely than it is possible for the National Trotting Association to - punish him. Connecticut, Ohio, Illinois and other States have passed a similar law, and

the days of the professional ringster and schemer seem to be numbered.

There have been many inquiries (saye the "Breeder and Sportsman")"as to how Star Pointer was shod last year. Here is Mr Murphy's statement:—" When Star Pointer paced his mile in l-59£ at Readville, August) 28th, 1897, he was shod as follows: The front shoes were bar shoes and weighed 7i ounces, with a toe clip and too and heel cilks on. The hind shoes were plain shoes weighing- 5 ounces, with toe and heel calks on."

A San Francisco exchange says:—Not since 1893 has there been much " long distance " trotting. In that year old Nightingale set new marks for various distances, and out on the Pacific Coast the roan gelding, Bishop Herq, made eeveral cuts from the five-mile mark. Pascal also reduced the ten-mile record. Greenlander was prominent at the two-milo distance, though his 4.32 ia very far behind the 4.19 j pacing mark set by Chehalis last fall.

Writing to the Ifew York " Turf, Field, and Farm" in regard to Jekyl Island, which is situated eight miles from the Georgia coast, Mr Hoffman, a trotting enthueiast, says :—The beacli of the island often suggests to mc vast possibilities for lowering the paoing and trotting records. After some lons' tramp and while resting in full view of this wonderful beaoh, \ have often mused to myself as to what would have been the results of the efforts of Alix and Star Pointer had their trials of speed been made on this beach straightaway for a mile, with a footing full of elasticity and life, not too hard, and as smooth and level as a billiard table. If I live I propose to test this opinion with Pixley, 2.085, and shall be .surprised if the beaoh does not prove faster than the track. This is one. placn I have,found where a trotter can be driven at speed without causing soreness. - v Among the various claims made about the ■peed of horses, based upon qer tain conditions, one of recent date is, probably, valid. It is to the affect that Big Ike, 2.134, is the fastest horse of his size on earth. His sise was stated as 17 hands in the catalogue when he was Bold (says " Griffin " in " Turf, Field and Farm."), but I am credibly informed that lie is nearer 18 hands. Henoe the claim will hold, like that of the schoolboy who proudly told his father that he waa at the head of his class. " How many are there in the class, my son?" asked the pleased parent. " Mc," said the boy. This from the " Spirit of the Times" :— Is the trotting turf of Europe popular, and is the sport growing ? It is. One day at the last Autumn Meeting at Vienna 70,000 people went through the gates, and the fact that entrance fees average about 2% shows that the "gate" has to pay the purses. Under our present system, the horsemen practically pay the purses, and they always must, until our associations can devise some new plans to attract a larger public patronage. With ringing impossible, every driver in attractive and appropriate costumes, every race started promptly on time, two or three dash races each day, and the programme completed by 6 o'clock, the public would turn out in such. paying numbers that treasurers and secretaries would not have to report year after year a deficit and feel positively proud if a slight balance was on the right side. A race which takes two or three days io decide might satisfy the sporting instincts of a.bygone generation, Trat it utterly fails to attract the great body of the pleasureloving public of to-day. The attractions last year whioh brought out the largest crowde were the exhibition races and matches of Star Pointer, Joe Patchen, John R. Gentry, and Robert J., and when the question of dash racing is discussed these facts should be borne in mind.

William B. Fasig, the eminent authority, writes:—Hopples are the bane of light harness racing. They have done more to cheapen horses, to say nothing about the danger of them; have brought odium on tbe sport, and are, from every point, a disgrace to the trotting turf. They should be aboliehed. But it would seem only fair to establish a date after which they would not be allowed. This action would be principally in favour of the innocent purchaser and present owner of a hoppled horse for turf purposes. We have been breeding .to establish a family of useful light harness horses, and, racing has been,conducted on the theory of encouraging that end, for fifty years. JNbw, if we must, after all that time, tie the legs of our horses together to make them do what they are bred to do, our efforts are a failure. Deliver us from the hoppled horse. • The "Turf, Field and Farm" says -.—The owner of Chehalis, Frank Frazer, saw that he intends to take him East next season, and will match him against any horse living over a half-mile track, if they will give him the pole in each heat. A seven heat race was recently run off oa the ice in Massachusetts between five horses* the prize being fifty buehels of oats, 50% to the first, 25 to the second, 15 to the third, and 10% to the fourth. One horse won three heats and was declared the winner, another won two heats, a third one heat, while the other horse who did not win so much as a feed was the one that actually accounted for the very first heat, but owing to a mishap was distanced in the second, and consequently withdrawn.