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■ James F. Gallagher Dies; Veteran Racing Official Served at Santa Anita, and Other Coast Tracks for Several Years PASADENA, Calif., May 26.— James F. Gallagher, veteran racing official, passed away at 11 oclock this morning at Huntington Memorial Hospital. He had been critically ill for many months. There will be a rosary for him 8 oclock Sunday night at the Wen dill p. Capdt and Sons Funeral Parlors, 27 Chestnut Street in this city. High mass will be held at the church of the Holy Angels, Arcadia, at 9 oclock Monday morning, with burial in Calvary Cemetery, Los Angeles. Gallagher was born in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 72 year ago. He first came to the race tracks about the turn of the century and was employed as a groom by James" Rowe, at that time one of Americas leading .trainers. In his capacity of groom, Gallagher claimed to have rubbed and cared for the great Hermis, one of the outstanding horses of the American turf. Gallagher came to the West in 1916 as a jockeys agent. He was a dapper dresser, a hard worker and an above-the-average handicapper who had the knack of getting his riders plenty of mounts on real contenders. After his first year as an agent, James Wood Coffroth appointed him custodian of the jockeys room at old Tijuana and Gallagher came to California with Coffroth when the latter reopened Tan-foran with the oral system of wagering. At Tanforan the late Judge Joseph A. Murphy appointed him patrol judge. Joining- up with the William P. Kyne organization, he eventually became a steward at Tulsa and at Riverside Park, Kansas City. He also served as steward at Agua Caliente and when Santa Anita opened he became a member of the official staff there and with one exception was employed there every winter in some capacity, usually as paddock judge. At various times he had also served as an official at Midwest tracks. Gallagher knew racing from the ground up in all its phases and in every capacity in which he served gave complete satisfaction both to his employes and to the public. He is survived by his wife, Margaret, of 375 South Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena.
