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■ BETWEEN RACES * os™ ore PIMLICO, Baltimore, Md., May 13. — Old-timers of the Maryland area, in general, and Baltimore, in particular, are wondering whether the current running of the Preakness, the seventy-third, will be the last seen at historic old Pimlico. Pimlico has been, in effect, temporarily, forbidden by the state to con solidate with and move to Laurel. "Our position in Pimlico is gradually becoming untenable," says Harry Parr, president of the Maryland Jockey Club. "It has been noted before, but it could be wisely reiterated, that we are confined to 97 acres at Pimlico, which precludes any chance of expansion. Ninety-seven acres simply is not enough for a modern racing plant. We are rapidly approaching the point where Pimlico cannot continue to operate under the present set-up. In the final analysis, we will either have to move to Laurel or drastically lower the quality of the Pimlico racing, and the latter alternative is unacceptable to the Maryland Jockey Club. We need to average approximately 00,000 a day to break even, Our average is far below that figure. We of the Maryland Jockey Club have always subordinated any dividends to the improvement of racing, but no cor-* poration can consistently lose money and survive. Last Preakness Running at Old Pimlico? Parr Says Clubs Position Is Untenable Says Laurel Consolidation Is Imperative Pimlico Seems Indestructible, Even to Fire "Our upkeep costs of Pimlico are tremendous," continued Parr. "The money spent to merely keep the old wooden structure in repair, replace worn-out timbers and the fire prevention runs to more than 00,000 a year alone. Over at Laurel, we have spent over 00,000 to improve it since the Maryland Jockey Club acquired the property. These improvements are not self evident to the public, but they were, nonetheless, necessary. The money went almost exclusively for solving a drainage problem, and in rebuilding the race track into an all-weather strip. A river runs by the Laurel property which, while in normal times serves to drain the track, in wet weather backs up and floods portions of the property. We have built a dyke to control this, and have created a sump where water from the track can be impounded and pumped over the dyke and into the river. We have rebuilt the racing strip completely. In some places, we had to dig as deep as 14 feet to remove the swampy quicksands and place a rock foundation. We feel we will have a track at Laurel on which any champion horse would be ready and eager to race. There is no real antagonism in Baltimore toward the move. The mayor has agreed the property will give the city more taxes as a subdivision than as a race track. The Baltimore hotels are not averse to the switch to Laurel, either. About the only protests we have had are from the sentimentalists, and on that score I suppose I am as well qualified as anyone to comment. I have been coming to Pimlico since I was six, and love every timber of the whole plant. But we have to keep abreast of the times, and if we dont go with modern times, we will be lost." AAA Parr disclosed other reasons why he felt it is in the best interests of the State of Maryland and racing to consolidate the Pimlico meeting at Laurel. One is that a survey conducted shows that Washington has become one of the great centers of transient population. "Washington has shown a greater proportional growth than Los Angeles during the recent years, according to our survey," explains Parr. "The closer we get to Washington, and the further away from Garden State Park, the better the racing we can provide and the more revenue will accrue to the state. A consolidation of our program with that of Laurel would allow an easy and sane settle - Continued on Page Forty -Three BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty-Four ment of the conflicting date problems which have acted to the detriment of Maryland business." AAA Pimlico wired its sympathy to Hollywood Park over the disastrous fire which occurred there, but a coincidence struck president Parr so strongly that he couldnt help but quip about the matter. "Sorry to hear of your loss," he advised Jack P, Mackenzie, vice-president and general manager of Hollywood, which opens its meeting on schedule Tuesday at Santa Anita, "and, after Preakness Day, we will be glad to ship you our grandstand, which is wooden and fireproof." Parr added that, "It seems literally true, but our fire of last year just about convinced us that Pimlico is indestructible. As you may recall, a fire broke out in the grandstand when a short circuit occurred in some wiring. Our fire experts say that if a pyromaniac had surveyed the whole structure with a thought of deliberately destroying it, he couldnt have chosen a better spot. But our automatic sprinklers delayed the blaze until the arrival of a squad of our own track safety patrol men, who fortunately were quartered in the clubhouse, and these men quickly put out the blaze. It seems ironic that Pimlico withstood that blaze, and Hollywood Park, largely of steel and concrete construction, should burn. One New York writer once expressed the situation here about right. He said, If you took the tradition away from Pimlico, the whole place would fall down. " i AAA Little Items About a Big Race — The Preakness: The race, as is not too widely known, is named after a horse, Preakness, who won a sporting race in 1870 called the Dinner Party Stakes. Preakness, although an own brother to some good horses, notably Bayonet, had never started before the engagement, and his victory came as a staggering blow to the chalk players of that day. . . . The Dinner Stakes had only one running. It was known as the Tidal Stakes in 1871 and 1872, then achieved its present eminence named in honor of the horse Preakness. . . . The Woodlawn Vase, emblematic of victory in this race, was made in 1860 by Tiffany, and was first used as a trophy by the Woodlawn Jockey Club. The Maryland Jockey Club came into its possession in 1917, the vase being a gift of Thomas Clyde. . . . Californias On Trust was the first horse ever to fly to Maryland for the race. . . . William Doyle, the veteran patrol judge, rode the Preakness winner of 1909, a horse called Effendi. . . . The out-of-town delegation of turf scribes "covering" the race will not approach the Kentucky Derby attraction, but, even so, the rather spacious press box here will be crowded to more than capacity. . . . Alfred Jay Luke, in New York to speak before the National Association of Racing Commissioners, will be among the Preakness visitors from the Far West.
