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MATT DAIGER — Pimlicos secretary and general manager estimates it will cost 4,000 per racing day to operate the course for the current year. • I I REFLECTIONS l_ By Nelson Dunstan . Whirlaway Thrills Fans at Pimlico Uncorks Terrific Burst of Speed NEW YORK, N. Y.f May 7. Whirlaway was "Horse of the Year in 1941" and, judging by the way he won the Dixie on Wednesday, he will be again in 1942. And with about 5,000 to go it now appears as if a new money-winning champion is certain during this 1942 season. Those statements may appear extravagant, but they will not to those who saw the Calumet champion come from what looked to be a hopeless last in the back stretch to one of the most brilliant victories within this writers recollection. Prior to the Imported Horse Shows to Advantage How Much Do Race Tracks Profit? Dixie running, veterans were endeavoring to recall when a field with so many class performers had faced the starter at Pimlico or any other track. The first four to finish — Whirlaway, Attention, Mioland and Challedon — are a quartet that would pack the old Baltimore track to the rafters if brought together in the "Pimlico Special" at the end of the season, but as the Dixie is the first, rather than the last, of important events for older horses at the spring sessions, racing fans can look forward to many bitterly fought contests as the season goes along. Here are four horses alone " who have already earned over ,000,000. Whirlaways fractional time was :23%, :472/5, 1:11%, 1:37% and 1:57. That, converted to words, reflects the terrific burst of speed the long-tailed horse uncorks once he makes the turn for home. Is it any wonder that Don Meade, riding second-place Attention, asked Ben Jones: "What have you got that horse equipped with — Pratt and Whitney motors?" Track records have been equalled or broken at the Pimlico meeting, as the racing strip is lightning fast. But even should there be no change in the weather from the time these lines are written, it is hardly likely that a new Preakness mark will result on Saturday. Shut Outs time in the Derby suffered by comparison with that of Whirlaway the year before, and regardless of who may be the winner this week-end, it is doubtful if he will better the 1:58 5 registered by High Quest in the Preakness of 1934, to say nothing of the track record of 1:56% walk-up start, created by Seabiscuit when he defeated War Admiral in that never-to-be forgotten Pimlico Special of 1938. Until Wednesday, only one winner of the Dixie had run the one and three-sixteenths miles under 1:58, and that was the fleet Pompoon, who, under 118 pounds, won in 1:564-5 in 1938. The present speed-conductive qualities of the Pimlico strip is reflected in the effort of Ocean Blue, who tied the six-furlong track record of 1:10% in the Jennings Handicap, and in the doing was clocked at the half in :45%, thus beating the world mark of :46 by a fifth of a second. Whirlaways 1:57 in the Dixie was one of the fastest ever recorded at that distance anywhere in the world. Foreign influence in American racing was reflected in the fourth race at Pimlico on Wednesday when the royally-bred Half Crown was the winner, with Copy second. Half Crown was one of the three Hyperion colts nominated for the Kentucky Derby, ! J and from present indications, is the best of the three-year-olds by that famed British sire sent to this country. To date, he has started six times and been in the money on four occasions — showing improvement with each succeeding start. Copy, j [ who finished second, is a gelding imported by R. K. Mellon, and is by Furrokh Siyar — Alike, by Southannan, a pedigree almost unknown to us in this country. While the group they defeated were of no great account, both of these importations appear to i jbe seasoned for holding their own when pitted against the higher class opposition I they are .certain to face in future starts. Domingo, the Louis B. Mayer colt, who | won his maiden race at Jamaica last Monday, is creating interest and will be keenly watched when pitted against our best American three-year-olds in Saturdays Preakness. He, too, promises to fit into the American picture, and this week-end will give us the best line on him yet obtainable. In recent days, the Pimlico programs have carried some enlightening editorials on the page devoted to "Today at Old Pimlico." One editorial which struck us forcibly was a statement as to the profits of a track like Pimlico and, as so much misleading information on this point has been printed in some papers recently, we are going to pass it on so that all racing fans can see that a race track is not always a "bonanza." The eritorial says: "Yesterday, we told how Pimlico made a probable profit of ,217.61, based on last Mondays business. General manager Matt Daiger estimates that it will cost Pimlico 4,000 per racing day to operate the course for the year 1942. The slight profit on Mondays business was eaten up on the very next day, however, for the loss was 05.32 and, after allowing for the estimated taxes, the loss for the day was estimated at ,905.32. The nest egg of ,217.61 realized on Mondays business became, on Tuesday evening, a loss of ,687.71." The statement goes on to stress that only on Preakness Day and a few Saturdays can Pimlico do sufficient business to build up a reserve against the ordinary days. The editorial in the Pimlico program goes on to say: "Granting that this I meeting of 12 days will end with a reasonable profit, general manager Daiger must anticipate the 13 -day meeting next November against which he has to make a charge of 4,000 per day. As the Preakness is run only once a year, Daiger and his associates never know until the last race is run in the autumn just where Pimlico finished financially. The records show that one day— Preakness Day— has been the backbone of Pimlico business." As everyone knows, Derby Day is the backbone of the Churchill Downs meeting, just as Preakness Day is at Pimlico. So, while race tracks do make money, they do not profit to any such extent as the general public is often asked to believe. It has been charged in some quarters that the ,000,000 contribution to War Relief is not sufficient in proportion to race track profits. Regardless of whether you say it slow or fast, ,000,000 is a lot of money, and especially for a sport or industry, whichever you will, that will be lucky if it clears a profit of ,000,000 in 1942 after all taxes are paid. If we are correct in that figure of ,000,000, the contributions to War Relief are generous ones.
