Del Mar Certain Meeting Wont Hamper War Effort: Approval to Open Track Given By Top Military Authorities, Daily Racing Form, 1944-06-10

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De Mar Certain Meeting Wont Hamper War Effort EffortApproval Approval to Open Track Given By Top Military Authorities AuthoritiesLOS LOS ANGELES Calif June 9 The race meeting scheduled to open at Del Mar on July 1 will be cancelled if it can be proved it would hamper the war effort a spokesman for Bing Crosby president of the track stated today However the Del Mar officials intimated they are skeptical of the claims of the few business execu ¬ tives in San Diego who have voiced opposi ¬ tion to the racing racingIn In fact while Crosby and his associates are themselves heavily engaged in opera ¬ tion of war plants they feel that there is a tremendous preponderance of evidence to support the theory that racing contributes no more to absenteeism than do theaters golf baseball and all other sports and en ¬ tertainment Furthermore they point out that racing has been maintained as a pop ¬ ular and healthful outdoor recreation at San Francisco Detroit Chicago New York and other great centers of war work activ ¬ ity without injury to the common over ¬ all war effort effortEverett Everett Crosby business manager for Bing stated the motion picture and radio singer is one of the most patriotic of men and would do nothing which he thought would in anyway hamper the war effort If Bing thought for a minute that the Del Mar meetings would result in increased absenteeism he would cancel it Crosby said saidWilliard Williard F Tunney general manager of the seaside track will open his office at the track tomorrow it is stated He is engaged in making the track ready for the forthcoming meeting lining up as em ¬ ployes soldiers and sailors who were re ¬ leased recently on medical discharge their wives and aged men and women unable to compete with ablebodied workers in war plants plantsLast Last night Bing Crosby issued the fol ¬ lowing statement statementWe We did not make a move to start racing until we had approval from top military authorities We figured they were the men running this war warThen Then we attempted to preserve the San Diego County racing industry by ac ¬ cepting an invitation to run at Hollywood Park Immediately business leaders and personnel from camps in the San Diego area protested they wanted racing at Del Mar Entertainment facilities were not adequate in San Diego DiegoWhen When such permission was obtained Consolidated Aircraft Corporation ob ¬ jected and promised but failed to with ¬ hold public criticism until we got together to discuss conditions conditionsAircraft Aircraft subcontractors with some of whom we are associated reported Consoli ¬ dated has been saying they needed no pro ¬ duction assistance Our defense plant at Del Mar has no difficulty in securing the finest type of labor and we have many on the waiting list


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1940s/drf1944061001/drf1944061001_24_3
Local Identifier: drf1944061001_24_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800