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BETWEEN RACES om HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 15. — Running of the glamour laden Haggin Stakes here tomorrow emphasizes a point which might, be taken as a milestone in the progress of California breeding, namely, that the current crop of two-year-olds out this way is by far and away the finest ever seen in the Golden State. The Haggin is limited to colts and geldings, but the magical name of the race has made it one of the most coveted by state breeders. James Ben Ali Haggin maintained perhaps" the greatest breeding farm ever seen in the nation at his Rancho Del Paso near Sacramento, and, if contemperaneous accounts may be taken as accurate, at one time as many as 2,000 thoroughbred mares were on the property, plus an assortment of more than 20 stallions. When breeders here talk about regaining the prestige of old, they refer to the standards set by Haggin. It was Haggin who sent yearlings to the East for sale not by carload, but by special trainload. It was Haggin who maintained vast pastures on land in California that is more nearly like the Blue Grass section of Kentucky than any other to be found in this state. The Haggin estate, of more than 40,000 acres, spread along the banks of the American River at the point where fertile flatlands of the Sacramento Valley began to undulate toward the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, an area blessed by lush grass, running streams, frequent springs, and natural trees. This latter statement may seem odd to our eastern readers, but the fact remains that in vast areas of California, the trees almost without exception have been planted. AAA The Haggin drew a record nomination list of 88, while Rich Haggin Stakes on Tap for Coast Fans Rate Homebred Two-Year-Old Crop Best Ever Felony Charge Clears California of Touts Undesirables Flee State After TRPB Move the Starlet Stakes of July 20 drew 134. The numbers are important in that Californians have pretty much gotten out of the notion of naming for stakes just for the fun of it whether their horses have any chance or not. These record rosters mean that there are that many youngsters on the West Coast today who are to be rated better than average, and by far and away the vast majority of nominees are California-bred. The nomination rosters also are -overwhelmingly western. The only nominators who are not year round residents of the state are a few who have deep roots here and spend a good deal of time here such as John D. Hertz and Clifford Mooers. It might be added that Del Mar is banking heavily on the two-year-olds to make its meeting a success, and its two most important stakes, the Futurity and the Debutante, also are crowded with youngsters, many of whom already have developed, a "name" with the racing public. The Futurity is expected to gross about 0,000, and the Debutante about 5,000. From a monetary viewpoint, these stakes now outshadow such traditional offerings as the Del Mar Handicap and Labor Day Stakes. California breeding has made tremendous strides in the last 15 years, or since the legalization of racing. While it still has a long way to go, the development of the two-year-old stakes, both here and at Del Mar to come, is concrete proof of the improvement made to date. The bonanza days of Haggin, when California-breds were the scourge of the nation, have yet to be recaptured, but the breeders deserve capital "T" for trying. AAA John Hanson, Thoroughbred Racing Protective Bureau agent in charge on the West Coast, and his staff have managed to clean up the touting situation at Hollywood Park through invoking a little known California law, namely, that under certain circumstances, touting can be a felony offense. Perhaps we mistake when we say a situation has been cleaned up, but" rather it was never allowed to develop. Seems that on the second day of the meeting, a "wrecking crew" from New York moved in and set up in business. This crew made the mistake of using false credentials, flashing an "owner and trainer" card, a counterfeit, of course, upon their unsuspecting f victims. The false identification phase converted the charge from simple misdemeanor into a felony, and that means, upon conviction, time in the states prison at San Quentin instead of a mere floater out of town, or a jail sentence, often suspended. When the word got around that this particular crew were in the jug charged with a felony, the touts disappeared rather promptly, and the current meeting has been progressing unhampered by these parasites. AAA One of the toughest problems the TRPB, or any other law enforcement agency has in dealing with the tout is the reluctance of the victim to sign a complaint. Most people taken in by touts, as with confidence men, feel they will reveal themselves to their friends, neighbors, and the general public as being "dumb," credulous, and perhaps not quite bright. In this particular instance, the victim smore out the complaint because the touts, instead of gambling with his money, as usual, in effect picked Continued on Page Nine BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Fifty-Two his pocket. The approach was flawless, and within a matter of minutes they had the man believing that untold riches were his by simply beating the races, on their information. When he opened his wallet to give the touts the money to bet, one man reached in and took his entire bankroll. He returned with the tickets, but instead of giving the man all the tickets, kept half of them for himself. This started the client to-wondering, and when the race was over, the horse running a deep ninth, and his "friend" did not return, as promised, the man got angry* and went straight to the TRPB with his story. Anyway touts do not seem to relish felony-charges, and they are now giving Hollywood Park a wide berth. A ▲ A Horses and People: Bill Goetz is toying with the, idea of sending his powerful string to Chicago following the close of the season here . . . The Lindheimer stakes-program is almost irresistable to a man out this way with a promising stakes prospect . . . One of Californias newest sires, Nathoo, filled his hook in near record time, 48 hours, and George Brent, who has the Irish Derby winner on lease at his Royal Oaks Farm showplace in Hidden Valley, . reports that his 1952 book is almost com-• pleted-. . . Really good stallions, or stallion prospects, sell rather well in California despite the fact that great numbers are" able to be mated to only a few mares . . . Hawthornes Gene Carey is going a racing here, wont return to Chicago until shortly before the Hawthorne inaugural. He has acquired a ranch in the San Fernando Valley where the gentleman farms for nine months of the year, spends the other three months with his brother Bob in the operation of the popular Cicero, HI., course.
