Outlines Plans for Track: Beaumont, Texas Hotel Man Anxious to Secure Help of Lou Smith, Daily Racing Form, 1937-06-23

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OUTLINES PLANS FOR TRACK Beaumont, Texas Hotel Man Anxious to Secure Help of Lou Smith and E. Paul Waggoner. HOUSTON, Texas, June 22. To a representative of Daily Racing Form, Walter M. Casey, Beaumont hotel man, outlined his plans for the promotion of a race track in Louisiana, within a few miles of the Texas line. It appears that the success of the venture may depend upon the co-operation given by the owners of the Epsom Downs and Arlington Downs tracks in Texas. Mr. Casey will try this week to arrange conferences with Lou Smith, representing Epsom Downs, and E. Paul Waggoner. He is anxious to interest Mr. Waggoner in his plan and wants to ascertain from Mr. Smith whether a deal could" be made with the Texas Breeders and Racing Association whereby the grandstand and physical assets of Epsom Downs would be moved to the Louisiana site. "I have inspected the Epsom Downs plant and believe the stands could be moved and rebuilt without tremendous expense," said Casey. "The site we have chosen is alongside the main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, which assures the best of shipping and transportation facilities. NEARLY 2,000,000 PEOPLE. "The area from which the track would draw its patronage is populated by nearly 2,000,000 people. This includes such cities as Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and Shreve-port, some of which are somewhat remote, but in close proximity are many smaller cities and towns in Texas, Beaumont, Port Arthur and Orange and in Louisiana, Lake Charles, New Iberia and Lafayette. All of these smaller cities are served by the Southern Pacific Railroad and are along the main highway from Houston to New Orleans." Mr. Casey formerly resided in San Diego, Calif., and recalls the early success of Agua Caliente, when there was no racing in southern California. He believes that a similar demand for a race track on the Texas border will exist after the outlawing of mutuel betting by the Texas legislature. "I have met with sufficient response in Beaumont to assure the building of the track if we find that our plans please the Texas racing men to the extent that they will lend us their assistance," said Casey, who manages one of the leading hotels in Beaumont.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1937062301/drf1937062301_25_4
Local Identifier: drf1937062301_25_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800