Here and There on the Turf: Mechanical Racing Aids; Camera to Decide Finishes; Closing of Hamilton Season; Time Supply and the Preakness, Daily Racing Form, 1934-05-10

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Here and There on the Turf Mechanical Racing Aids Camera to Decide Finishes Closing of Hamilton Season Time Supply and the Preokness Charles H Strub general manager of the new Los Angeles Turf Club has made an announcement of some rather amazing mechanical aids to the racing that will be conducted over the course now being con ¬ structed on the old Lucky Baldwin ranch ranchThe The most amazing innovation promised is the decision of races by Camera Of course with Hal Roach as one of the principals of the promotion and the fact that the racing is in the home of the moving picture indus ¬ try the camera has come to do marvellous things and manager Strub is convinced that the decision of races by actual photographs will be so instantly acclaimed that it will be adopted by other associations associationsFor For the taking of these moving pictures of the racing the camera will be used for the entire running there will be two towers in the grandstand and a third in the infield Then the racing time will also be mechanical and by the use of this device it will be possible to split seconds to oneten thousandth thousandthThese These are the two most important of what manager Strub calls aids to the sport and he has promised that the racing ground will rival Hialeah Park in Florida in the beauty Joseph E Widener can at least have consolation in the fact that the gorgeous Florida Park is used as the stand ¬ ard of beauty in racing grounds groundsWhether Whether or not the camera will be entirely satisfactory in judging the finishes is open to argument until it is put into actual opera ¬ tion It is admitted that the camera in Hollywood has come to an independence that is almost unbelieveable It has been taught tricks that were considered impossi ¬ ble but a few years ago but thus far the camera cannot be rated a success in de ¬ termining the finish in a horse race raceIt It has been used before and possibly the method was not as thoroughly perfected as it may be at this time but the other experi ¬ ments were anything but satisfactory and it has never been brought into general use useAs As it is proposed at the new California course the camera will be depended upon entirely and the placing judges will have no option in the matter They are merely to announce the finish as reflected in the photograph with which they are furnished two minutes after the finish of each race raceThus Thus it would be possible to simply have one official to report what was shown in the photograph There would be no occasion for the selections of judges at the line lineAs As for the mechanical timing It has also been done before and with some degree of success but after the seconds are split into fifths or tenths it would seenu that every handicapping need has been amply cared for forIt It will be interesting to watchpust What success attends these new tricks in the de ¬ ciding of races and timing Jthe running at the meeting which is to begin Christmas Day and continue until February 23 They may prove real aids to the sport but it will have to be proven and some of the old Continued on titientyftfth ptige HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page sportsmen will be hard to convince convinceWith With the coming of each mechanical de ¬ vice to the sport there has always been many who opposed the change It began when the barrier came into use and then when the stall gate became generally ac ¬ cepted as a help in the conduct of the sport The changes have been charged with taking much of the sporting value away from the racing Each device has been charged with a trend to make the racing more of a com ¬ mercial rather than a sporting proposition but the changes that have been generally adopted up to this time have undoubtedly made for better racing racingNever Never before has there been sport pro ¬ posed with so many mechanical aids as are to be shown at the Santa Anita course and for that reason if no other the racing will be unique uniqueThe The second racing meeting of the year has come to an untimely end with the sud ¬ den cloeing of the season of the Hamilton Jockey Club at Hamilton Ohio The other meeting that failed to carry through its ad ¬ vertised racing time was at Tampa Fla during the winter months monthsAt At Tampa as at Hamilton the promoters were enforced to close their meeting for want of patronage and the consequent rev ¬ enue But the Tampa organization made good its obligations to the horsemen while at Hamilton up to Tuesday when the meet ¬ ing was declared off there were many obligations that were not met In consequence of this many of the horsemen are left stranded with their horses and a great hardship has been wrought At such a meeting a vast mar jority of the horsemen are solely dependant on the earnings of their horses With these men and several of them in their modest way are a credit to the turf racing is a business and a legitimate business But racing should not be a business with the associations associationsThere There is no denying that many associa ¬ tions are in racing as a business venture and some of the ventures have been tremendously successful but the best racing has always been where it was a sport and where the associations were well pleased to have it pay its way rather than declare big dividends dividendsWith With a racing commission functioning properly there should be no chance for the calling off of any meeting before it had run its full course There should be no meet ¬ ing licenses granted until the applicant can satisfactorily show the financial ability to go through with the contract contractWhen When any doubt exists as to the financial standing of the promoters the license should either be denied or it would be re ¬ quired that a sufficient sum of money be deposited to assure the horsemen that the purses will all be met metDoubtless Doubtless the untimely end of the racing at Hamilton will make the Ohio Racing Commission a bit more careful in the issu ¬ ing of licenses in the future but a proper safeguarding of the sport in the beginning would have prevented this fiasco fiascoThe The duty of the racing commission is first to the public then to the horsemen and last of all to the associations associationsFrank Frank Carreauds Time Supply the son of Time Maker is coming up to the Preak ness in a fashion that holds out high hopes for his being a keen contender in the classic SaturdayThis to be decided at Pimlico Saturday This fellow was rated the best threeyear old in Florida up to the running of the Florida Derby which was won by Mrs Dodge Sloanes Time Clock It was shortly before the running of the Florida Derby that Time Supply went amiss and on all he had shown up to that time he was well qualified to give Time Clock or any other threeyearold stiff argument Now Carreaud has brought the son of Time Maker back to the form he was show ¬ ing in the winter and his fourth to Caval ¬ cade Discovery and Agrarian in the run ¬ ning of the Chesapeake Handicap after hav ¬ ing suffered some interference gives him importance The colt has shown some ster ¬ ling trials since his Chesapeake and he is sure to have a strong following at Pimlico Saturday He is fit and ready to race the mile and threesixteenths and is a colt of true quality Little Leon Haas the apprentice that has shown some degree of riding skill at Ja ¬ maica recently richly deserved the punish ¬ ment he received Tuesday when he was sus ¬ pended for rough riding It was not the first offense of this youngster and it is hoped he will profit by his punishment punishmentThe The particular offense came in the run ¬ ning of the fourth race and Haas was first guilty of shfftting off Magyar as Gar ¬ ner attempted to go through on the inside nearing the stretch turn and on the turn he carried Moralist out so badly as to seri ¬ ously interfere with his chances chancesOn On various other occasions Haas has been carrying horses out in the stretch and the stewards are congratulated at this late time in finally taking action against such riding


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