view raw text
Nelson Dunstan REFLECTIONS Quality Not Quantity Preakness Showing Up Absenteeism as Bunk Maryianders Want Full Fall Sport Janon Fisher Right Man for Job BALTIMORE Md May 5 5The The prospect of only three and perhaps four at the most starters in the Preak ¬ l ness on Saturday has started us checking into the records for a comparative and J similar situation In 1920 Man o War was opposed by no less than eight other three 3 yearolds in the Preakness and not during the present century has the Preakness i failed to draw less than six to the post Many people are saying that Count Fleet has scared out the opposition but we are forced to the conclusion that while we have six or possibly seven high class members of the division the group as a whole is nothing to brae about In the Preakness of 1920 Man o War defeated Upset the horse who will be immortal for the fact that he is the only one ever j to have beaten Big Red in his entire career Upset was a far better horse than generally credited with being This year we have a similar situation with Blue Swords who like Upset is a high class performer determined to give battle to the one horse now regarded as a standout in his division It will not be known until Slide Rule works tomorrow whether he too will be a Preakness starter and right there we have the three who are generally considered the best of their division now in training So while the Preakness will admittedly lack quantity it has the quality a the Derby clearly indicated Vincentive the Marylandbred will surely be a starter and while he may not beat Count Fleet his race here indicated he will give a good account of himself A small Preakness yes but it might be a good one onePimlico Pimlico took the bull by the horns when it planned its advertising for the current meeting It will be recalled that last winter when racing here was in a state of uncertainty it was given a kick downstairs by some uninformed office holder who said that if Pimlico opened it would seriously increase absenteeism in the many loca war industry plants The charge made headlines all over the country and was Pimlicos chief sore point when the meeting opened To counteract any possibility of increased absenteeism Pimlico upped its advertising budget and ran display advertising for the first time in its history The ads running daily in Balti more and Washington papers boldly stated absentees not wanted A week later the result of this campaign was carried in the local press not that it was a check on the power of advertising but rather a check on whether racing was increasing absenteeism And it wasnt made by or at the instance of racing people Anyhow the result was that absenteeism in the ten leading war industries had decreased during the first few days of the Pimlico meeting As a matter of fact with this straightforward advertising policy Pimlico has done an excellent job in its entire wartime racing program Starting at 12 noon each day was thought at first to be a sop to local transit and ODT officials Many thought the post time for the first race would gradually be pushed to 1 or 2 oclock but the Pimlico people have adhered to the 12 noon post just as rigidly as they have stood by yellow and black for a color motif for 200 years All this has redounded to their and racingrs credit And they havent lost any money doing it although we know the people who run Pim ¬ lico and suspect they would have taken a loss in the matter if it was between that and the principle of the thing thingThe The 20 days of racing which come to a close here on Saturday should give much food for thought to the people of Maryland as a whole and in particular to the gov ¬ ernor of this state the Maryland Racing Commission and the local War Manpower Commission Pimlico has been well patronized as the attendance figures attest the mutuel play has been good there has been a minimum of confusion in the city and little or no controversy with governmental agencies controlling gasoline and trans ¬ portation Certainly the horse lovers of Maryland want racing and can have it without interfering with the war effort even a war effort geared as high as it is right now It is too bad that the once model racing law of Maryland is so antiquated that the state the fans and the sport should have suffered as they did this past winter But as in the case of a real good horse the performance has proven the contention Mary ¬ land can stand its full quota of 100 days of racing The quest of autumn dates is now before the Maryland Racing Commission and we commend them for deferring their decision of the matter from a month ago to now They have actually seen what racing people could only argue was certain to happen Perhaps it is better that it happened this way better for Maryland better for racing and better for the people who like racing Now we can be certain that whatever decision the Maryland commissioners reach on the autumn dates will be influenced by facts by the record and will not be the result of hysterical fingerpointing fingerpointingThe The Maryland Horse Breeders Association held their annual meeting in the old Pimlico clubhouse Monday evening and to the complete satisfaction of its entire membership reelected Janon Fisher Jr president for the ensuing year Fisher made every reasonable effort possible to withdraw from the office but the meeting wouldnt have it and when his name was finally put up to date the young Maryland sportsman was unanimously retained in office The significance of this action on the future of Maryland breeding and racing particularly the immediate wartime future is important Fisher is an aggressive intelligent and personable type of man He belongs to the same group of young men who in recent years have been making their presence felt in the thoroughbred sport This group includes John Gaver Harry Parr Whitney Stone and quite a few others These men do not confine their interest in racing to the operations side but primarily to the breeding the welfare of the horsemen and conditions pertaining to the people of racing and its conduct Fisher himself is a college man but to see him around his own stable in the morning he looks like a wellbronzed plowhardened farm lad Which actually isnt far from the truth for when he has a chance he spends his spare time working on his farm located only a few miles from Pimlico PimlicoThe The particular problem facing Fisher and his associates in the Maryland Horse Breeders Association is the same which plagues any such agricultural group whose objectives are primarily altruistic Maryland breeders have only in recent years been blessed with financial recognition from the racing associations in the state and until that time had plugged along with an ambitious program nourished with a mere pittance of voluntary contributions This year the shutdown of most of the race tracks in the state has deprived the breeders association of the bulk of their income Fortunately at Mondays meeting the Maryland Jockey Club voluntarily pledged to make up a sub ¬ stantial portion of the difference but even so the times require that the organization maintain the program it laid down for itself Any curtailment of racing first tends to dissipate the interest of the men who breed horses for the racing market and it is the Job of the breeders group to keep the interest and activity of these men just as high in these times as in more normal circumstances Fisher as we stated in the beginning is an ideal man for this task It has beeri his baby for a year He has spent many hours discussing it with racing people all over the country writing about it in his own publication the Maryland Horse and in urging assistance for the breeders from the people in racing who can afford to give it
