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REFLECTIONS *y NELS0N DUNSTAN NEW YORK. N. Y.. May 12.— Coming a week after the Derby, there is no "future book" on the Preakness. Even so, there are a lot of lads around town who are willing to wager that Capot will be the favorite over Ponder when they run for the "black-eyed susans" on Saturday afternoon. We cannot recall when there has been so much confusion after a Kentucky Derby running as there is right now. Regardless of the fact that Ponder made the field at Churchill Downs look as if they were standing still, the Calumet three-year-old has by no means convinced a section of the fans that he is the type of horse who can win the "Triple Crown." His biggest task faces him in the Preakness for he is more of a speculation at the shorter distance than he is for the one and one-half miles of the Belmont, which would seem to suit him perfectly. Although Crispin Ogelbays Noble Impulse, who won the Surivor Stakes, at Pimlico last Monday, will add interest to the race — the majority of people we have talked with believe that Ponder still has the three horses who finished behind him to beat him in the Preakness, namely. Capoi, Palestinian and Old Rockport. AAA Racing secretary John R. Maluvius. of the Hollywood Turf Club, apparently believes as many of the rest of us do that Citation and Coaltown should be equally rated until such time as a race between them decides the issue. In his release of weights for the Hollywood Gold Cup, which will be run at Santa Anita on July 16, he placed both the Calumet horses as the highweights of the field at 132 pounds each. Fervent is next on the list at 123 and he is followed by Dinner Gong at 118. Vulcans JForge. winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, and who is the highweight for the Metropolitan Handicap, to be run at Belmont Park on Saturday, is next on the Hollywood list — along with On Trust — at 117 pounds each. It is a foregone conclusion that the Calumet contingent will not send both Citation and Coaltown to the West Coast for this rich race. In fact, it is still a question whether Citation will be back in training and keyed up to com- Ponder Must Convince Fans in Preakness Maluvius Considers Citation-Coaltown Equals Where the Racing Dollar Goes in Florida Tropical Park May Be Forced Out of Racing petition by the middle of July. It would not be surprising, however, if the Jones boys and Warren Wright looked favorably on sending Coaltown and Fervent to the West Coast for this event. A good many of us here in the East hope they will, for the Hollywood officials have gained many friends by promptly stating that they would rebuild their track "to be as fine as it ever was" after that terrible fire which levelled the stands to the ground. Coaltown would be a big drawing card at the Santa Anita meeting, and Hollywood is deserving of all the good drawing cards that come their way. AAA Every so often racing organizations publish booklets showing how the racing dollar" works for the betterment of the state and its citizens. In California, agriculture and county fairs have been the beneficiary of the states share of the pari-mutuels and, in Illinois, the lot of the war veteran has been greatly improved by funds from the same source. Now, Hialeah has issued one of the most enlightening booklets, along these lines, we have ever seen and, on the cover is a picture showing a group of girls leaving the Sarasota High School and, under it, the caption, "Racing Builds a Healthier and Happier Florida." On the inside cover, they stress the fact that since 1932 ho less than 5,000,000 has been paid by Hialeah and other mutual enterprises into the state treasury, and in this year, 1949, an estimated 2,500,000 more will be added. This huge sum is distributed to the 67 individual counties, each sharing equally, and also to the State Welfare Board for old-age assistance. Just how each one of these counties use this money from pari-mutuel wagering is described in this booklet and, as we will show in the next paragraph, racing is an asset in Florida, rather than a drain on its communities. AAA ~ -. Florida has many fine schools, and all of the racing revenue that goes to Sarasota, Broward and some other counties is devoted to educational institutions. Volusia County gives its share to the teachers as a bonus and, from what we read in the newspapers, school teachers throughout the country would welcome such an arrangement in view of the salaries they receive. Each county in the state is allowed to spend its share from pari-mutuel wagering in any way the officials see fit and, as a result, much of it goes for building bridges, building and constant repair of roadways and highways, while others apply it to build courthouses, hospitals, waterworks, public buildings, jails, mothers pensions, pest control, canal and drainage, and still other ways which will improve the conditions for the natives, and also the tourists. Of the 67 counties of the Sunshine State, 10 employ their pari-mutuel money for the direct help of the aged for, of every dollar passing through the pari-mutuels, five cents and the breakage is collected for the aged. This booklet, issued by the Hialeah racing officials, points out clearly that horse racing is one of the best sources of income to the counties and those who make up its population. AAA Speaking of Florida, the racing commission of that state has released the dates for next year, with Tropical Park opening the season on December 1; Hialeah following on January 17, and then Gulfstream Park taking over on March 4. There is a bill pending in the legislature which could change this and, if passed, Hialeah would retain the same dates, but Gulfstream would then stage a split meeting, taking the 20 days before Hialeah and the 20 days after. This would force Tropical Park to take the first 20 days and the last 20 days of the season. Tropical officials say that a passage of this bill would force their track to go out of business. We have talked with many people about this situation, and the majority, are of the opinion that such a move would be unfair to Tropical Park and contrary to the good old American policy of "live and let live." Should Tropical be forced to close its gates, it would naturally shorten the Florida season — unless, of course, they gave additional dates to Hialeah and Gulfstream. The whole affair is just another example of the trouble that can follow the "date wars" that have become all too frequent in racing.
