FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART III 213 



were. We had a part of a circuit barely filled; instead of getting 

 as many as they did here at the state fair we only got five or six 

 entries. I would like to hear from others in regard to this matter 

 of early closing. . 



Mr. White, Malvern: I have not thought much about making 

 any talk in regard to this matter, and as far as the classification 

 is concerned it is an awfully hard thing to say anything. Last year 

 at our fair I got a good many letters and if I had changed the 

 classification according to the wish of the horsemen I would have 

 had more races than we could have taken care of from now on to 

 the time for the next fair. And it is hard to tell what classifica- 

 tions to put up. But I would think to catch the most of them in 

 the pacers' race it would be best to place it, say at 25, at 20, at 15, 

 and three at 10 or free for all. 



Mr. Pickard: More particularly on early closing it seems like 

 the larger entries in the early closing as a rule are the green 

 classes. More green horses start out, fellows starting out take 

 more chance on them, than they will if they have tried horses. 

 That is the way I look at it. 



Mr. Clark: Mr. Rigby in his talk in reference to the fair at 

 Marshalltown was referring to me when he spoke of the final 

 entries. I want to tell you of a little experience we had last 

 fall. We had two colt races. We had one of the nicest let- 

 ters from a man over in Illinois desiring to make an entry but 

 the letter said: "This colt is sick this week; if he is able I am 

 coming." About Sunday or Monday, the week of the fair, we 

 got a letter saying his horse was still sick, and he could not 

 come. He w^as awfully sorry, but to keep his name on the list 

 and send him entry blank for the next year. I had a hunch that 

 the fellow was lying to us all the time, so I kept watching the 

 papers and I found out he was racing over in Illinois at the time 

 he wrote us the last letter; that he was racing the week of our 

 fair. And the week after our fair and after that I did not keep 

 track of him. Now when our secretaries run up against a propo- 

 sition of that kind, some may be better natured than I am, but it 

 does rile me up. If anything riles me it is make an entry list and 

 when a horseman gets our list and finds out he does not stand 

 much show he concludes he does not desire to show there and 

 hikes off to another toAvn and wins a race and if you write him 

 about paying his entry fee on the list he is thoroughly offended. 

 I don't like that. My intention is when our next entry blanks 



