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JUDGES STAND by charu-s hatton DETROIT, Mich.. -June 2. — The second meeting at Detroit how has gone far enough to permit a fair sample of the patronage, and general manager Bob Leavitt estimates there is a nucleus of more the 7,000 racegoers of the sort known as regulars. "The potential is much greater," he observes, "for there are 3,000,000 in this area. People are only just finding their way out to our track." The new 3:45 post time on week days, with shorter intervals between races, appears to have caught on with the public. Even with this comparatively late start, there are 1,000 to 1,500 patrons checked in at the turnstiles after the first race. Leavitt notes an extraordinary increase in per capita play here, as in most other areas. Occasionally it" has exceeded 0 per player. The Michigan Racing Association has tentative plans for further development of its sport, and its facilities when the Federal ban on such construction is removed. A turf club similar to Arlingtons Post and Paddock is a possi- bility, along with four new barns,. and a border of trees screening nearby factories from view.. Also the restoration of some of the stakes carded at the first MRA meeting, although the club has no delusions about competing with Chicago tracks on the score of distribution. Attracting stakes horses isnt entirely a matter of .matching added monies, for horsemen race where they feel they can win. These plans now are rather nebulous, but this tourist inclines to share Leavitts optimism that within the next decade Detroit will become a most important part of the Midwest circuit. AAA Delaware Parks Lester Bernd has done American racing % noteworthy service in his perfection of a method to eliminate the "depth problem" from film patrol pictures. This removes the only objection we have heard any track operator, raise concerning the filming of races. Bernard told us last summer of his hope to achieve- a third dimensional view through synchronized cameras, and he has devoted much of the past year to experiments Per Capita Play Soars at Detroit Course Bernds Film Patrol Benefits Racing Three-Year-Olds Potential Earnings Up Strong Yearling Market Is Foreseen in this direction. The film patrol has been of tremendous assistance to stewards at the tracks which have installed this device. Apart from discouraging fouls, it is a record of any infringement on the riding rules; and it has been instrumental in helping many riders to correct their mistakes. There is often a noticeable difference in the riding at meets which have the patrol and those which do not. AAA The three-year-olds potential earning capacity has been increased this year, not only through the 5,000 boost in the value of the Preakness, but also through the new dates schedule. For example, the Belmont last season was decided on June 10, in direct conflict with Delawares 5,000 Kent. The Westchester Associations classic mile and a half now is a week later, on June 16, and the Kent will be programmed on June 23. Additionally, the greater interval between the Preakness and the Belmont may enable more colts to be ready for the latter stake. Following the Kent and the 0,000 Dwyer on July 7, the leading three-year-olds will return to the Midwest to point for the Arlington Classic on July 21. Indeed, one of the foremost candidates for the Arlington feature now is due at Chicagos fashionable North Side course. This is Mrs. H. C Genters Santa Anita Derby winner, Roughn Tumble. And it might surprise you to know how many observers in this section consider him the-one-to-beat for the 1951 three-year-old honors. Mel-vin "Sunshine" Calvert has not been idle with the robust son of , Free For All at Keeneland, and the former jockey hopes to start him at least once before the Classic, early in the meeting at Ben Lindheimers track. Calvert is far from a green hand at having a horse at the top of his form at the appointed time and place. E. E. Dale Shaffer, president of the Detroit club, looks forward hopefully to a strong yearling market this summer, as he is offering one of the finest consignments ever led into the Keeneland ring. Racing during the first five months of the season has found Count Fleet emerging as a sire of classic horses and Coldstream will offer a likeable filly by this stallion from the mare, Fair Weather. John Hertz also will sell the progeny of the sire of Count Turf, Kiss Me Kate, Counterpoint and Astro. The last named still is a maiden, but with a chance of becoming a stakes winner in the 5,000 Delaware Oaks on June 16. Distance appears to be her forte. Racing during the first half of the season, which is the portion that influences yearling buyers, also has. created quite a vogue for the get of Jet Pilot and Pavot. Leslie Combs n. will offer a colt and filly by the Derby winner and a colt by Pavot in his consignment to Keeneland. Breeders hardly an help being optimistic about the 1951 sales in view of the Trend of Racing and the demise of the proposed new tax method on stables and studs. AAA Turf ana: Hart Dernham, a placing judge at Detroit, raced horses at Highland Park here almost a half-century ago. Grosse Point Park was another forgotten track that operated at the time, and Detroits Fair Grounds was a part "of the Grand Circuit. . .Apprentice Russell Gaudreau returns to the Motor City this weekend. . .Sandy Baldwin reports that he has six foals from Jeeps last crop at his Dundridge Farm near White Post. ...Former Kentucky State Senator Walter Coleman is a candidate for leadership of the Michigan division of The Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association. . . .Perhaps the answer to the question of whether the horsemen would care to be obliged to nominate for all the "Triple Crown" events* at once is contained in the absence of the Derby contenders from the Preakness . . . Running in little races on big days, George Krehbiels Golden Bolt has performed before 160,000 in her three latest starts. . .An occasional Detroit purse is worth as much as the horses.
