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BETWEEN RACES *o-ouots PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 6. —Before dropping the subject completely, we decided to check into he once widely discussed fingerprinting situation, and if Kentucky may be taken as a criterion, the ire and opposition to the plan, as evidenced in some quarters during the winter, has all but died out. The TRA security representatives at Churchill Downs are busy building up their fingerprint files, and the vast majority of horsemen, officials and all others connected with the turf and thus subject to the fingerprint rule, have come in cheerfully to register. Jim Baker, agent in charge of the Louisville racing, reports some 1,700 prints taken at Churchill, and more than 900 others at Lexington with only one objection registered. This was an owner at Lexington wno felt that his personal privacy was being invaded. But once it becomes fully understood that the rule applied to all hands, and was not just directed at a certain group, opposition dropped to a vanishing point. The print program, of course, is going forward at the convenience of the individual, and the file will not be what might be termed "complete" for perhaps another year. Added to the fingerprinting chore are the teams getting under way in the lip tattooing program, and one can readily understand that the TRA men about the country are busier than the proverbial beavers. AAA Breeders will be happy to learn that Hollywood Park will give them more of a "break" than ever before at the major summer meeting opening on the West Coast come May 24. After conferences with Alfred Jay Luke, president of the California Owners and Trainers Association, and also a major coast breeder, the Hollywood management has decided to offer an average not counting sweepstakes of about five juvenile races a week. Brcd-e.s in the West long have contended that lack of suffi- Opposition to Fingerprinting Fading Hollywood Gives Breeders Breaks Color Films Newest Aid to Stewards 1948 Kentucky Derby Plans in Making cient two-year-old races has not given them an ample opportunity to "prove" their stock. The pari-mutuel play, quite naturally, is better on races catering to older horses and with established form. The breeders say they would like the heaviest two-year-old offerings in tho summer and fall, having no quarrel with the theory that two-year-old races in the winter should be under-emphasized. AAA One other item of national interest is in the making at Hollywood, that being the announcement by Wendell Cassidy, presiding steward at Hollywood, as well as Tanforan, that color films would be used exclusively in the camera to be set up in a tower in the infield and beyond the finish line. This particular camera, as introduced at Tanforan, is considered the most important development in the whole history of the film patrol system. The camera, set on a swivel, takes the entire race in a continuous film, and has proved extremely valuable when screened along with the conventional films taken from the outside rail vantage points. The color films will tend to make identification absolute, perhaps the only complaint that could be leveled at the camera results as currently being filmed. AAA Tom Young, the track superintendent at Churchill Downs, tells me that no sooner had the "official" sign been put up by the stewards in the Derby than Matt J. Winn started planning for the next one. This may be stretching the point by a few hours, but by Monday, at the latest, a conference is always held at which plans are made for the next season. The Downs, with the exception of the war years, has been expanding steadily, and each year the demand for boxes increases to the point where the construction never has actually kept pace with the requests for tickets. If this years crowd may be taken as a criterion, the Derby must eventually point its sights to handle a crowd of 150,000. When buildiug materials become freely available, as they perhaps should this year or early next, it would appear that many more fans, at least, will be accommodated with boxes or other vantage points. AAA Horses and People* Jockey Johnny Longden reports that Owners Choice has been pegged pretty definitely as a sprinter, and that he is training to keep his engagements in the Swift Stakes and also in the Withers Mile. Longden is not ready to concede shorter than a mile. Longden plans to ride at Hollywood Park this summer, where he can keep better tab on his extensive cattle project in Nevada. . . . High Glee, which died in the West the other day, was in foal to Pilate and was to have been bred back to Beau Pere. . . . We rather fancy the idea at Churchill of listing the names of the owners of stables, in addition to the assumed names, on the program. It lends dignity to racing and inspires public confidence. In some states, no one seems to know #ho is running the horses, excepting, of course, the racing commissioners. In some instances, assumed names have oeen used for a number of reasons, none of which could be listed as for the improvement of racing. . . . Hemet Squaw, the good West Coast stakes-winning three-year-old filly, will be shipped to Chicago on July 20 to keep certain engagements at Washington and Arlington Parks. Trainer George Reeves, the Kentuckian who has become one of the best leading trainers in California, will send her against the best colts and fillies there are in that sector.
