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TANFORAN TRACK IS READY Rush Work on Galifornia Course for Saturdays Opening. New Track Declared Safe and Fast by Horsemen Built on Portions of Two Old Courses. SAN BRUNO, Calif., April 18. The Tan-foran track is about ready to receive the racing hosts that in a few days will van up the peninsula; from Bay Meadows to take part in the coming twenty-five days of sport. Frantic efforts are being made to have the new track in first class condition and with fair weather prevailing, the meeting will get off with a good start Saturday. Although many of the horsemen who raced their animals at Bay Meadows were not convinced Tuesday that the Tanforan track will be in a safe condition by Saturday, managing owner John W. Marchbank of the latter plant changed their minds Wednesday morning. He proved . the track is okay by sending his own horses out to work over it. "I would not ask owners to race their horses where I would not race my own," stated Marchbank recently. "Therefore, I sent my animals over the track first to prove that it will be in good condition for Saturdays racing." Nine of the Marchbank racers were worked three furlongs Wednesday morning under the watchful eye of trainer Kay Spence. Distribute went the distance in :37 flat, while two others, Orra and Koptenay Belle, breezed in :38 flat, considered excellent time for the track, which was labeled "good" by the clocking brigade present. Horsemen and dockers who watched the workouts Wednesday morning and Monday, critically examining the track, declared that it will be one of the safest as well as the fastest tracks in the West. "-It will be very close to Santa Anita in general racing exj cellence," one expert said. The new Tanforan track is composed of soil that, when drying, forms small, crumbly clods, it was explained, as compared to the Bay Meadows soil, which forms large, hard brick-like clods which often remain unbroken even after repeated harrowing. Marchbank transferred the top dressing of the now unused portions of the old outer and inner tracks to the newly built single track and so formed a good foundation for the new top soil he recently had trucked to the course. This utilization of the best soil from the two old tracks to make the new single track has worked out amazingly well, the experts agree. Racing fans who visit Tanforan for the inaugural program Saturday, and who have a flare for engineering, or are merely curious and inquisitive, will notice that the new track has not been laid out on a straight "move-back" plan, but instead, is slightly twisted so as to lie across the two old courses at the southern or clubhouse end, and to rest unchanged on the northern end of the old outer course. Thus, the new track is roughly sixty feet inward from the old outer track at a point immediately in front of the clubhouse, this removal gradually diminishing back up the home stretch until at the stretch turn it is practically identical with the former outer track. This placing of the new track over the two older tracks has enabled Marchbank to get by with the building of comparatively little "new" track. The only portions that are entirely new, that is, built up from the low surrounding grounds, are the outer portions of the back stretch and the three-quarters mile chute. Practically all the remainder occupies the course of either the old inner or outer tracks. The old inner track was used for training operation, and the outer for racing. Several stables vanned over to Tanforan today, and scores are expected tomorrow. The Puett starting gate, used at Bay Meadows, was hauled, to Tanforan today. - Some good horses will meet in the opening feature, the Tanforan Inaugural Handicap. The race is at six furlongs, and it is expected that the majority of short distance runners which took part in the ,000 added Santa Clara Handicap at Bay Meadows last Saturday will line up in front of starter Eddie Thomas. The Percy M. Pike pair Indiantown and Carisbrooke, are almost certain to go, while Bert Baroni may start Top Row and Sand Cloud. The purse in the Inaugural is ,500. Despite the bad breaks, Bay Meadows did not fare so badly in a financial way after all. The average daily handle was over 8,-000, just about what it is estimated will take care of expenses. With reduced purses and better weather Tanforan should realize a handsome profit.
