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BETWEEN RACES 1 By Oscar Otis Works as Clerk to Support Horse ODonnell Makes Good as Manager Miss America New Lincoln Stake Don Frankel Moving to California CaliforniaHOLLYWOOD HOLLYWOOD PARK Inglewood Calif May 26 Horses and People Don Jeffer ¬ son who gained a great deal of fame in turf circles prior to en ¬ tering the army for service in the war with such as Weigh Anchor and General Manager is showing exceptional determination with a hard luck colt called Lucky Street Jef ¬ ferson bought this horse for 5000 for his own account and soon after purchase the horse bowed He sent lum to the Howard Oots farm at Mt Shasta for a years rest and in the meantime is working as a parimutuel clerk to support the horse Horsemen have found a way to actually time their horses in dense fog under certain conditions namely for mile and sixfurlong works Any California major track is apt to get fog at times and said fog is usually at its worst in the early morning hours The mile time of course can be taken by the trainer at the finish line The sixfurlong times have also been solved by the trainer astride a i pony snapping the off at the threequarter pole then briskly galloping back to the wire and wait for the horse to emerge from the murk The system has gained wide vogue here on the mornings which are deeply misty Prior to the opening of the meeting as many as 400 horses were fogged by the dockers and to fog means to know the horse worked but how far and how fast a matter of conjecture conjectureA A J A AIt It comes as no surprise that the Lincoln FieldsatWashington meeting is rolling along in smooth fashion and with a most excellent brand of racing But if there were a surprise the one person to whom it would come was Pete ODonnell the newest of race course executives in America and a graduate from the ranks of the turf writers It may be revealed that ODonnell was on the grounds working a 14hour day prior to the inaugural and had to keep so close to his work that he moved his resi ¬ dence to the track office The day before the opening ODonnell made a thorough check of the plant the stables and staff He could discover nothing amiss The morning of the inaugural he awoke at four oclock wondering what he had overlooked He wracked his brain and mentally re checked everything Needless to say the inaugural day and afternoons thereafter proceeded without mishap ODonnell in ¬ cidentally will have Lincoln Fields greatly refurbished when the racing association re ¬ turns to its home property in all probabil ¬ ity next season Lincoln has been home ¬ less for quite some time now but the switch to Washington Park for this season was a blessing in disguise It has given the Lincoln people a better chance to improve their own property and bring it up to a true metropolitan standard when racing re ¬ turns there next year Construction work and improvements have been delayed dur ¬ ing the current meeting because ODonnell reasons that heavy machines gear and noise incidental to construction can be an ¬ noying to the many thoroughbreds stabled there and he wants no part of anything that would upset the horses and consequent form during the season The work will be resumed and sent into high gear after the close however howeverA A A A ASpeaking Speaking of the Lincoln Fields home priority in rehabilitation work has been given to the stable area All reconstruction work will have as its first aim fire preven ¬ tion next the happiness of the horse Sta ¬ bles will be as widely spaced as possible and there will be in reality two stable area units each quite a distance from the other As for the racing programs to be offered Lincoln Fields will improve them as rapid ¬ ly as is feasible One new stake was added to the roster this year the 10000 Miss America for twoyearold fillies and down for decision on June 12 ODonnell checked his stakes program and believed it was weakest in twoyearold offerings Inas much as breeders have in the main re ¬ ported this year after year he thought stakes limited to the fair sex would do breeders the most good in the immediate years to come and at the same time would afford quite as competitive a race as one onefor for colts or open Don Frankel West Coast member cf the turfs famed Frankel family is moving his home from Houston to Hollywood Don son of Frank Frankel likes it so well here he is becoming a citizen will extend his oil enterprises here and at the same time be close to and able to see the racing of the California division of the stable said divi ¬ sion now being committed to yearround campaigning here Incidentally the Frank ¬ el family is quite pleased with the ability shown by their eastern trainer R G Ker cheval This man has an unorthodox back ¬ ground as a top flight trainer He was an AllAmerican football player later played pro football Summer times in Kentucky he worked on various Blue Grass farms later became stable agent for Maine Chance Farm under the regime of Tom Smith The Frankels first employed him as their stable agent but as the man always showed keen judgment of horseflesh had a natural knack of knowing what it was all about and after much discussion between Frank and son Don Kercheval was given a chance He picked up the eastern wing of the stable in Florida and while his first winner in New York was Fond Embrace in the Fashion Stakes his horses had been c r tently knocking at the door prior to the Fashion Stakes win
