Grannan v. Westchester Racing Ass'n

16 A.D. 8, 44 N.Y.S. 790
Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York·Decided July 1, 1897·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

Hatch, J.:

The defendant, the Westchester Racing Association, is a corporation organized under chapter 570 of the Laws of 1895, entitled [10] “An act for the incorporation of associations for the improvement of the breed of horses, and to. regulate the same, and to establish a State Racing Commission.” The defendant, The New York Jockey Club, is a corporation organized under chapter 213 of the Laws of 1891, entitled “An act to provide for the formation of corporations for improving the breeds of domestic animals.” ■ The other defendants are officers of the last-named defendant, called “ stewards,” and are its governing body. The act under which the Westchester Racing Association was organized required, inter alia, that it shall obtain from the State Racing Commission, also created by said act, an annual license before it is authorized to conduct running races, which is the particular character of the racing conducted by said association. This license is required to contain the condition that all running races or race meetings conducted thereunder shall be subject to such reasonable rules and regulations as, from time to time, shall be prescribed by said jockey club. Failure by said cor- • poration to comply with the terms and conditions of the license subjects it to the penalty of having its license revoked aüd annulled by the racing commission. It appears from the papers that the rules of the jockey club were intended to apply to all racecourses east of the sixty-first meridian line which were recognized by it, and these are termed, “recognized courses.” And the complaint avers that all other associations owning and controlling race tracks in this coun- ■ try recognize the rules of the jockey club and the action of the stew: ards thereunder. It thus appears that the Westchester Racing Association, and all other associations of like character, while separate entities, are governed and controlled in their conduct of races by an entirely different body, whose rules furnish the law governing their-action in this respect, and which they are bound to obey under penalty of losing the license, which is their only authority for engaging in the racing business. The jockey club, by virtue ...of its authority to prescribe rules for the conduct of races, and to govern the action and conduct of persons engaged therein and others, prescribed the following rule:

■ “ 150. Jockeys betting. No jockey shall bet on any race, except through the owner of and on the horse which he rides; and any jockey who shall be proved to the satisfaction of the stewards to have any interest in any race horse, or to have been engaged in any [11] betting transaction, or to have received presents from persons other than the owner, will have his license at once revoked.
Any person knowingly acting in the capacity of part owner or trainer of any horse in which a jockey possesses any interest, or making any bet with or on behalf of any jockey, or otherwise aiding or abetting in any breach of the orders of the stewards, will be .ruled off.”

This is the only rule made by the stewards of the jockey club which has any material bearing upon the subject-matter which we are now considering. It is the rule upon which the stewards based the action which will be hereafter considered, and to which effect must be given; otherwise there exists nothing upon which to base their action. Some other rules have been referred to, but they may be dismissed from consideration as they do not affect the authority upon which the stewards have assumed to act.

It is alleged in the complaint that the plaintiff has been for many years interested in. race horses; that he has purchased, sold and owned such horses, and has for many years run them on the various race tracks in the United States, and that he still owns race horses or interests therein; is a breeder of such horses, and is interested in improving their breed; that in order to carry on his business as a breeder, owner, purchaser and seller of race horses, it is ■ necessary that. he should have free access to the different race tracks during the various meetings, in order that he may there observe the action of the different horses running on said tracks; and it is impossible for him to conduct his business intelligently if he is "debarred from obtaining such information in this manner; that, at a special meeting of the jockey club, held on September 28, 1896, the stewards of said club adopted the following resolution:' “It" has come to the knowledge of the Stewards of the Jockey Club that Fred Taral, jockey, received a. present of $500 during the season of 1895, in violation of the rules of racing. Owing to Taral’s universally accepted good character, he is reprimanded by the stewards, ordered to refund the money received by him in violalation of the rules, and all jockeys are warned that the penalty for accepting presents, under rule 150, will be strictly enforced.”

Resolved, That Riley Grannan be warned and ruled off the turf for offering and making presents to jockeys, in violation of the rules óf racing.”

[12] On the 17th day.of October, 1896, plaintiff purchased a ticket at the ticket office of the defendant, the Westchester Racing Association, at Morris Park, in the county of Westchester, where it was then conducting a meeting for running races; such ticket entitled him to enter the race track and enjoy the privileges common to the public generally. Upon presenting such ticket and demanding the right-to enter upon the race track he was denied admission and was excluded therefrom by the Westchester Racing Association. The plaintiff, by this action, seeks to have the said resolution of the jockey club declared null and void and to enjoin the defendant, the Westchester Racing Association, from enforcing the resolution or from depriving the plaintiff of any of the privileges enjoyed by the public'at the various meetings controlled by the- stewards of the jockey club. A temporary injunction was issued restraining the enforcement of said resolution, and, upon motion to make said injunction permanent during the pendency and trial of the action, the same was denied and said injunction was vacated.- From the order entered upon that decision the plaintiff brings this appéal.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Grannan v. Westchester Racing Ass'n, 16 A.D. 8, 44 N.Y.S. 790 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1897).

16 A.D. 8 (Grannan v. Westchester Racing Ass'n) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

Related

The STATE EX REL. GARRETT v. COSTINE, Judge.
2018 Ohio 1613 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2018)
Ness v. Pan American World Airways
142 A.D.2d 233 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1988)
Madden v. Queens County Jockey Club, Inc.
269 A.D. 644 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1945)
Bamberg v. International Railway Co.
53 Misc. 403 (New York Supreme Court, 1907)
Grannan v. Westchester Racing Ass'n
48 N.Y.S. 1105 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1897)