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New Photo Grid g Aid to Stewards Equips Motion Pictures With Measuring Stick/ Says g Director of Racing Cassidy By KENT COCHRAN Staff Correspondent Q HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., Z May 21. — Those .wires stretched across the track some 40 feet past the finish line may q have mystified some fans. Theres nothing 2 spooky about them— they represent the newest wrinkle in the managements ef- _j forts to keep racing on the up and up. They n: are a definite advantage in determining C whether or not a horse keeps a straight 3? course down the homestretch, and as such XD enable the stewards to place blame more definitely on any horse-and-rider team who * may interfere with an opponent. The base wire is stretched straight across the tracks, and five wires joined to it at - 10-foot intervals slant up towards a point s above the inner rail at angles varying from J° 20 to 90 degrees, all being tied into one — anchor point above the rail. The upslanting wires form grid through which a precision n telephoto lens on the camera high in the tower beyond the start of the clubhouse turn records its moving picture of the race. Resemble Lines on Football Field When thrown on the screen, the grid wires create white lines down the homestretch which resemble the limed lines on a football field or grass tennis court. These lines are in lanes, each 10 feet wide and extending all down the stretch. The horses swing into the homestretch and enter the lanes. When the jockeys steer straight courses, the horses are pictured coming straight down the lanes toward the camera. Any deviation from the straight shows clearly oh the screen — and woe to the rider who permits his mount to get out-of -straight and interfere with an opponent who is charging along side. The white lines are a definite aid to the stewards in determining just what horse swayed, and how much. Bob Oswald, organizer and president of Thoroughbred Foto Service, Inc., under contract to Hollywood Park and other tracks to picture the running of the races, is credited with inventing the grid. He has been encouraged by general manager J. F. Mackenzie arid director of racing Wendell Cassidy. Oswald first tried to fclace a grid directly over the lens at last falls Hollywood meeting, but vibration and other hindrance made it impracticable. The wires down nearer the scene of action were then devised, and apparently they have worked out tor perfection. The wires, by the way, are strong steel cables, stretched very taught to prevent vibration by the wind or ground-jarring from passing fields of horses. The cables are painted white. The lanes created on the film are about 10 feet wide, wide enough to encompass three horses racing side by side. These lanes remove all doubt regarding the course a horse is steered down the stretch, and they also enable the stewards to make an j actual measurement of the distance or degree of any swerving. To use Wendell Cas-. sidys words, "They equip the motion picture with a measuring stick." Hollywood Park initiated the film patrol some years ago, and has pioneered in its perfection. This newest wrinkle is a refinement, the most recent in a number of improvements. Sample films are being sent to Belmont, Arlington and other leading tracks in the East, so dont be surprised to see all of Americas more progressive tracks adopt still another California innovation.
