Sponge & Dope

The stewards of the New York Jockey Club tackled a nasty job last week at Jamaica, L. I. A race had been won by a horse named Garden Message, owned by George Herbert ("Pete") Bostwick. the country's No. 1 gentleman-jockey. After the race the track veterinary found a sponge in the nose of Sweeping Light, which had finished third. Then the doctor examined Garden Message, voiced the shocking opinion that the Bostwick horse had been stimulated for the race. Garden Message's trainer stoutly denied it. For Owner Bostwick, who was honeymooning abroad, his friends protested bitterly. Nevertheless the stewards barred both horses from the track pending investigation. Turfman Joseph Early Widener* revealed last week what his Hialeah Park in Miami will do next season about the lately virulent dope evil. It will adopt the "dope-box," widely used in France and England, for examination of horses. Before each race is run the stewards draw by lot the number of one entry, keep it secret until the finish. Then that horse, no matter how he finished, is led to a special stall ("dope-box") just off the track where a chemist tests his saliva for drugs. ^

*At Newmarket, England last week Mr. Widener's Seminole won the Cesarewitch, important long-distance stake, at odds of 100-to-6.

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