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BETWEEN RACES I By Oscar Otis 1 1Rise Rise of New Golden Gate Executive Dempseys Turf Career Phenomenal Gained Experience at Santa Anita Was Number One Aide at Del Mar MarNEW NEW YORK N Y May 20 Perhaps no more meteoric rise of an official on the turf has ever been recorded than that of Jack G Dempsey re ¬ cently appointed to the staff of Golden Gate Fields on San Francis ¬ co Bay At 32 Dempsey is now manager of operations at one of Americas largest and most modern race courses He started a little over 10 years ago parking cars at the Santa Anita lot Such success must be deserved and it is In the comparatively few years he has been on the turf he not only has mastered the problems of the public but turfmen as well In addi ¬ tion to being a man wise far beyond his years and well educated there is a secret to his short cut to the top so to speak a secret which will be divulged in proper sequence Dempsey was born in Portage Wis and was the son of a blacksmith A husky fellow he played football in high school and prep school and was pointing toward the college football mecca of Amer ¬ ica Notre Dame so he could play under Knute Rockne But Rocknes unfortunate death changed his plans A scout from Loyola College near Los Angeles talked him into going West and he played during his college career out there thereA A A A AUpon Upon graduation he sought a job and landed one with a Los Angeles auto park chain During his winter vacation he took a job on the Santa Anita lot Between times he played a bit of pro football with the Philadelphia club He was a tackle His bulk and early experience with horses landed him a job for a time on the ground crew of starter Eddie Thomas I handled some pretty tough horses too Dempsey recalls Remember old Woodberry What a rugged customer he was to handle I han ¬ dled him and a lot more like him Demp ¬ sey climbed the ladder in operations at Santa Anita after switching back from han ¬ dling horses to autos and when Willard F Tunney left Santa Anita to take over the management of Del Mar Dempsey went along as his number one aide The Del Mar operation of catering the public is conceded to be about the best in the nation Some of the Del Mar ideas were borrowed from Santa Anita but in turn many of the Santa Anita ideas were Dempseys suggestions suggestionsA A A A AThe The system used for the gates and en ¬ closures is foolproof The customer gets what he is entitled to with no gate crashers from grandstand to clubhouse or from clubhouse to turf club Credentials are positive A few examples The invisible ink stamp for the hand is sure and nontrans ¬ ferable The posting of two unobstrusive men at the entrance to the private turf club whose job it is to know by sight and in ¬ stantly every member If he has never seen them before the credentials are checked The gateman points out said member and he never has to be told twice The reason for all this is to restrict the club to its members Too many people it seems lend their credentials to friends or hired help and the like on days when they are not going to the races In previous times incidents have shown that some people can mess up even the nicest of clubs if they have an opportunity to get in And the forbidden portals have a special lure for gate crashers who seemingly try to break in just for the sport of crashing crashingA A A A AWhen When Dempsey severed his connection with Del Mar following the close of racing last summer he was quickly engaged by the board of directors of Golden Gate Fields although public announcement of his appointment was not made until re ¬ cently The secret of Dempseys success we mentioned earlier is quite simple He sur ¬ rounds himself with the best men available in their respective fields At the moment no post at Golden Gate has been filled Dempsey is exploring the possibilities of his official staff and one rather imagines that it will be an outstanding lineup when completed The Golden Gate Fields stake program is in the process of preparation and will be announced at an early date Dempsey will integrate his program with that at Tanforan to make a Swing West early attractive for horsemen wishing to rate at Santa Anita during the winter
