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TEMPORARY SUSPENSION AT TANFORAN San Francisco Course to Remain Closed Until Saturday in Order That Necessary Repairs on Racing Strip May Be Completed SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 23 No racing was held at Tanforan Tuesday and the plant will remain "dark" until Saturday. Following a conference between J. W. March-bank, directing owner, and several officials after the races Monday, it was decided to call a temporary halt because of bad track conditions. It is expected that the four days before the reopening will give track superintendent Frank Rinehart and his crew ample time to make the necessary repairs to the racing strip. Tanforan opened last Saturday, Jdespite the fact that it was generally known that the track was not in the best of condition, but officials had no idea that it was really as bad as it turned out to be. It was found necessary to fence off a portion of the track in the stretch both Saturday and Monday and after several horses had stumbled nearing the finish on both days Mr. March-bank decided to suspend racing rather than take a chance with the lives of jockeys and horses. The California Horse Racing Board was quite in agreement when Marchbank informed them that he wished to stop the racing in order to get the track into proper shape, while the horsemen were "tickled pink" with the move. It not only assures the safety of their horses, but enables them to give their charges a brief rest, which will do the majority of them much good. The difficulty with the track grows out of the fact that the racing strip is for the most part "new," the present course having been placed diagonally across the old inner and outer courses two months ago, in line with a general rejuvenating and overhauling of the entire plant. It is to the credit of both Tanforan Company, Ltd., and the horsemen that each was willing to concede a point. The management made a gracious move by insuring every horse that performed for the first two days, and the owners reciprocated by entering their charges, although they knew that they were taking a chance by racing over such a bad track. San Francisco tracks have certainly had their share of misfortune this spring. Bay Meadows was forced to suspend two days racing because of bad weather, while Tanforan will lose four days because of present bad track conditions. Many argue that racing at Tanforan should have been postponed for a week in order to get the track into proper condition, thereby permitting an extension at Bay Continued on sixteenth page. TEMPORARY SUSPENSION AT TANOFRAN TRACK Continued from first page. Meadows. As it turned out, it seems as if that would have been the proper plan, but John W. Marchbank was advised by those in charge of the rebuilding of the Tanforan track that it would be ready by April 20 and he took their word for it, as he wished to open on schedule. In suspending the racing, Marchbank made the following announcement: "In order to give the track superintendent sufficient time to put the racing strip into perfect shape and make it safe for man and beast, racing is postponed until Saturday. Track superintendent Frank Rinehart, after conferring with me, assures that if he is given a few days he can have the racing strip as fast and safe as any track in America." Tanforan will open with a bang Saturday, when the J. B. Haggin Handicap, a mile event for three-year-olds, will be featured. With fair weather, it is expected that a crowd of over 10,000 will be in attendance and over 50,000 handled in the mutuel machines. The handle last Saturday was over 04,000, while Mondays business was 0,-039. It is estimated that the paid admissions for the two days amounted to over ,000. An amusing yarn is being told in connection with Mondays mutuel handle. A well known San Franciscan wagered a friend 00 that Mondays business would not reach the 0,000 mark and then went to the track and bet 00 on each race. Had he remained at home the handle would have been but 3,039 and he would have won his 00 wager. As it was he beat himself out of his bet by his own betting at the track.
