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BETWEEN RACES * «o« ore GARDEN STATE PARK, Camden, N. J., May 19. — The stock of Thumbs Up as a sire has taken a spectacular rise following the exploits of one of his first sons, Selector, at the current meeting here. Selector won his first outing of the season and his racing debut in the slop, then came back last Saturday to score rather convincingly over Uptown and Kinsman in the flashy sime of : 59% for five furlongs, but a second off the track mark established last year by the two-year-old of that year, Blue Peter. Owner William Helis, who acquired Seclector and the Beau Pere filly, Briday Shower, from **che Louis B. Mayer sale, seldom "sticks his chin out in making predictions," as he puts it, but in this case he is so convinced of the worth of his two acquisitions that he makes the bold assertion that Selector will win the Arlington Futurity this summer. This may or may not come to pass, but he had said he wouldnt take 50,000 for the Thumbs Up fellow, a 0,000 purchase in the sales ring. Bridal Shower, who cost 5,000, was graduated from the maiden ranks the other day and, like Selector, is deemed by Helis and the trainer of the Jersey „ division, the diminutive Frank Catrone, about ready to step into stakes company. Selector and Bridal Shower have been liberally nominated in sweepstakes at Delaware Park, New York and Chicago. However, the colt and the filly will be given their baptism in stake company before the close of the current meeting. Selector is being pointed for the 0,000 William Perm at five furlongs on May 30, while Bridal Shower will be tried in the 0,000 Rancocas Stakes, also at five furlongs, the feature of the Saturday card on May 28. That Selector Selector Rated as Prime Stakes Prospect Mahoney Says Telautograph Real Success Machine Cuts Pay-Off Times Four Minutes Cosmic Bomb in Keen Demand at Helis Farm should loom so formidably against the tops of this area may be a source of pride to Californians. Thumbs Up is still in the Golden State standing for film producer William Goetz. AAA It was our good fortune today to be shown through the vast pari-mutuel plant by W. Riggs Mahoney, the director of this rather intricate yet smooth working operation of a race course. Mahoney explained in some detail the success of the Telautograph method of payoffs, and predicts that the equipment will become standard at all major American tracks before many more seasons have gone by. Garden State has the largest Telautograph installation in the world, surpassing the previous irecord" held by the Philadelphia navy yard. The system has been in operation and thoroughly tested on a large scale since the opening of the season. "As a time saving device for the public it is without parallel," explains Mahoney. "We believe it saves an average of four minutes per race, or 32 minutes per day. Add up the number of fans at the track and it totals a substantial number of years every day:" The Telautograph is a method of automatic reproduction of writing at various points from a central "pen and pencil" set. It makes the pay-off slips available to cashiers immediately the official sign is flashed by the judges. The veceiving sets are so placed as to be readily "seeable" by the customer cashing. The use of Telautograph does not save a track money, but it does lessen the time of cashing, and thus makes for good will. AAA Mahoney made a spot check of an eastern track which was rather far flung and noted that in some cashiers lines there was as long a delay as six minutes from the time the "official" went up on the "tote" board in the infield until the cashiers had received their official pay slips from messengers and payments to players started. Such delays are irksome to the fan waiting in line. With the messenger system these delays are inevitable and usually in ratio to the distance between the cashiers wicket and the calculating room. They long have been regarded as one of the necessary annoyances of racing. The Telautograph has eleminated all such delays. In a business such as racing, where every second counts and millions must be turned over in a matter of hours, such seemingly small details can add up to a major factor. Incidentally, Mahoneys time check was accurate, the four-minute figure being an average. Seldom was the delay, without Telautograph, less than three minutes. The calculators who figure the pay-off odds, straight, place and show, can start their mathematical process the minute the judges flash in the numbers, and Jhave the odds ready for posting within a minute and a half, in any case, never less Ahan two minutes. The odds must be checked, too, before they can be flashed on the board, and, here at Garden State, direct to the cashiers as well. AAA As have been noted, the Telautograph is merely an Continued on Page Thirty-Nine BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty adaption to the race course of a principle which has been used in other lines of business for years. The wonder of it is that someone had not applied it to a race course before. In the remote event of mechanical _ or other failure, a standby system has been perfected which can be brought into instant use. The Telautograph is rented to the track on a similar basis as the "tote." Eugene Mori, president of Garden State Park, has given his unqualified stamp of approval to the gadget, and believes his track has made a substantial contribution to the turf by proving it out on a large scale. Incidentally, Mahoney is of ,the opinion that the false belief in the minds of some people that there is a "mystery" connected with the calculation of "tote" payoff prices should be dispelled. He prepared and had printed an interesting brochure, simple to understand, describing the exact method. By studying the booklet any fan can calculate his own prices, and correctly, right from the pool totals posted on the infield "tote" board. These booklets are being distributed with the program at Detroit. AAA The William Helis farm near Jobstown is by all odds by now the largest thorough-.bred nursery in the East if numbers of animals may be taken as a guide. There are now more than 300 thoroughbreds on the Helis acreage. In addition there are 800 head of cattle. Helis has instituted a rigid system of pasture rotation, and it is now his practice to turn out thoroughbreds into a given area only after it has been grazed by cattle, lain or fallow, for at least a year. The newest sire at the Helis farm, Cosmic Bomb, is in great demand. Helis limited Cosmic Bombs first season to 18 mares and turned down more than 100 applications.
