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BETWEEN RACES °™ °™ ARCADIA, Calif., June 7. — For the tenth straight season, Del Mars Surf and Turf Club is announcing an increase in total purse distribution for the summer race meeting scheduled to open July 26 at Joe Schencks and Jay Paleys little track down on the seaside near the most ovjutiiwcoici southwesterly i,y point jjuiiiif ill in these iiieae United umteu ovjutiiwcoici southwesterly i,y point jjuiiiif ill in these iiieae United umteu States. Paley has revealed that the surf club has elevated its minimum purses from ,800 to a ,000 level and will offer mid-week overnights up to a ,000 value. The roster of 14 stakes has a total added money value of 20,000. One stake has been reduced in value, the 5,000 Del Mar Handicap, traditionally run on closing day. This has been dropped to 0,000, but the 5,000 lopped off here, and more besides, has gone to make up for the ,000 minimums and higher-valued overnight races which will appear in the condition book for horses of allowance or premium claiming quality. When Del Mar opened in 1937, the daily average purse distribution was a mere ,013. Last summer, the first under the leadership of Messrs. Schenck and Paley, it rose to 8,381. In. fact, the swank little club on the beach, available by plane, train, yacht and automobile, ranked thirtieth on the roster of American tracks last year in. total purse distribution, -to-wit, 53,625. There are two 5,000 added stakes on the coming schedule, the Derby, at a mile and a sixteenth, and the Futurity, at six furlongs. The latter race is expected to gross about 0,000. Del Mar, and rather wisely we. think, is Del Mar Purses Upped Tenth Straight Year Paley, Schenck Outline Rich Purse Program Tote Company Is Ready for Any Disaster Adjusters Appraising Hollywood Damage allowing Santa Anita its emphasis on its 00,000 races, and Hollywood Park on its 00,000 Gold Cup, concentrating upon building up its two-year-old fixture into one of the most important of its kind in the nation. AAA The American Tote Company has its own "disaster" set-up, and any more destructive occurrences like the Hollywood Park fire would not find the "tote" people unprepared. One entire "tote" unit is kept in working order at the companys Baltimore shops, while other "standby" equipment is available at certain key points in the nation. The "tote" company, it might be mentioned, is finally beginning to catch up with the demand. The selling machines, manufactured in England, are arriving in a. steady volume and, before another year i» out, every track on the Continent which wishes a "toSe6* should be accommodated. You might be curious a* to why the selling machines, rather complicated gadgets, should be imported from England. The British company vhich makes the machines had toole ap in anticipation of passage of a turf-control act In England and, when the legislation became in fact law, were ready to supply the demand on English courses. H. L. Strauss, head of the American Tote Company, asked Americas leading electrical supply house if it would be interested in manufacturing the machine, according to specifications. But they werent, because they did not feresee the widespread demand which eventually was to become a reality. Hence, Strauss turned to the English company for his equipment. AAA Speaking of the Hollywood Park fire, it may be revealed that insurance adjusters are busy working over the ruins and, at this writing, have come to no conclusion as to just what started the blaze, or as to the proper amount of insurance which should be paid. The insurance on Hollywood Park was spread among some 80 companies, which does not make for too prompt a settlement. Louis Almgren, former fire chief of San Diego and a long-time breeder and one-time owner of a hardhitting stable of thoroughbreds, informs us that the Hollywood blaze was just about "impossible." He had instwcd the plant thoroughly not too long before the fire. Obviously, reconstruction work cannot begin until the insurance adjusters and investigators complete their task, and it is one of magnitude. Meanwhile, the rumor factory is working a night shift turning out Hollywood Park gossip. These rumors, and you can take your pick, range all the way from the item that Hollywood Park will never be rebuilt, to the fact that it will be rebuilt on a much smaller scale. As against this, the only formal Continued from Page Thirty-Four BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty statement made by the Hollywood Park Turf Club was by its president, Tom Simmons, and was to the effect that Hollywood Park would be rebuilt "better and finer" than ever before. AAA Horses and People: Al Gomez, the Sacramento Valley breeder, has returned to the racing wars and is campaigning three of his own produce here, Sports Cub, Sports Star and Top Production. Gomez stands the stallion Sportswriter at his northern acreage and has invited sportswriters throughout the West to suggest names for his young stock. . . . Current yearlings include a colt by Broadway Rage, a colt from Star Walloper, and a colt from Bafflorette. . . . Former jockey Harry Richards has resigned his position as a patrol judge at Caliente, and has resumed his career as a trainer. ... Santa Anita currently is home to 1,387 horses, a new record for the course. . . . The most recent issue of the Thoroughbred of California features the California fair circuit. . .. . Trainer Cecil Wilhelm has thrown Portrero Grande Ranch, in San Gabriel, open to visitors. . . . The stock to go under Fasig-Tiptons hammer in the July 5 dispersal sale is being shown to the public. . . . Included are the sires Devils Thumb, Slide *" Rule and Grim Reaper, plus 24 broodmares with foals at side, 14 thoroughbreds of racing age, and 17 yearlings. • AAA Santa Anita has planted a row of eucalyptus trees, the fastest growing known in the West, to block out from public view a new drive in built on Colorado Boulevard. . . . Said drive-in is just dandy with the management, of course, but its presence does not blend artistically with the otherwise almost unbroken vista of grandeur afforded grandstand and turf club fans. . . . Donald Schunk, former rider, has saddled five winners out of 14 horses sent postward for his employer, J. R. "Johnny" Williams, San Franciscos well-known millionaire bartender. . . . Schunk is doing far better than ordinary in his new profession as a conditioner. . . . D. Bernard Kearney, general »- manager of Western Harness, confirms re- . ; , ; ports in this column, published last week, that the future of the Los Angeles trot and pace season early this fall, is uncertain. . . . "We are just waiting to see what happens, and hoping for the best," explains Kearney. . , . "It is ironical," he added, "that" had we accepted our original dates instead of waiting till later in the fall, we would have been running and Hollywood Park would have been unable to open without canceling us from the picturei a most unlikely occurrence."
