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wood wood Park Park since since BETWEEN RACES » *•« HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 10. — Mervyn LeRoy, one of motion pictures best known executives and direc- tors, has been advanced to the presidency of the Hollywood Turf Club. The Hollywood Park fortunes from here are in able hands, for LeRoy is no Johnny come lately in racing, but rather, most people will be surprised to learn, he has been ja racegoer since he was a youngster, has been a stockholder in Holly-its its foundiner. founding, and and has has wood wood Park Park since since its foundiner. founding, and and has has either owned or bred thoroughbreds for the last 15 years. LeRoy started his business life selling papers in San Francisco, and was no stranger to horses even then, for his father raced a pair of horses at old Emeryville, to wit, Salinas and Leach. The man next entered vaudeville, in an act entitled "LeRoy and Cooper, Two Kids at a Piano" and from there graduated to the films. Through luck, he got a part as a jockey in a pix called "Little Johnny Jones," insisted he knew how to ride, and although he never had ridden before in his life, took a quick course in equitation at a riding academy in Griffith Park, and did so well in the race track scenes that horsemen who saw the picture upon its completion thought he was a real jockey, and a good one, doubling for somebody else. AAA "Looking on racing with as much detachment as possible," comments LeRoy, "it was apparent that the sport is undergoing significant changes, and for the better. I rather believe that racing has a limitless horizon, for the sport is such that it really sells itself to the public, and if the management concerns itself with seeing to it that the best horses possible race, the show is put on smartly, and the customers are comfortable, I believe management is on the right track. Racing always has had a particular attraction for people in the entertainment business, and that is because entertainers always appreciate talent in good surroundings, and racing certainly offers that in abundance. One of the most gratifying developments in California in recent years has been the rise of some truly great t Hollywoods Presidency to M. LeRoy From Newsboy to Picture Director Sees Limitless Horizon for Racing Public Comfort Big Aid to Turf breeding farms, of which a good example was the farm of Louis B. Mayer and the present Amarillo Ranch of John D. Hertz. And I personally am in agreement with past and present Hollywood Park policy of being willing to experiment and take a chance with new ideas which could lead to either an improvement in the sport or to public comfort and convenience. I believe the modern age of racing can be dated from the formation of the TRA and the organization of its subsidiary, the TRBP. In effect, racing at once set up high standards and created a self policing agency which often directly and more often indirectly, through elimination of the small minority which always cause the major headlines, has enabled racing to merit its present high degree of public confidence and popularity. We at Hollywood Park take perhaps pardonable pride in the fact that vice-president and general manager Jack F. MacKenzie was a leader in the organization of the TRA and since has respected voice in its councils. , AAA "I often compare motion pictures and racing," adds LeRoy, "for both have sound fundamental entertainment value, and bofh must be approached with common sense m a business way. I always have adhered to the theory that to produce a successful picture and one which will make money, you have to spend money, and to have a fine race track with top quality racing, you have to pay purses and make the patrons happy. I agree with Jack MacKenzie that by our expenditures of money to make the plant as commodous, modern, and beautiful as possible, we have acted to upgrade the racing at the same time. The days are gone when the public will put up with anything in the way of accommodations and comfort, and while a track may exist under these conditions, it certainly would not flourish. We at Hollywood Park think we have hit the happy medium in this regard, but we fundamentally believe that our rich purse programs today were made possible to a large extent by the grandeur of our plant as well as clean rac- | ►ing. The motion picture industry proved the point long before racing did that entertainment in comfortable surroundings 3 would draw more people than pictures presented in a barn. Luxury theatres were - never a mistake." AAA While LeRoy is understandably busy in I motion pictures, he finds time to give his 5 racing interests the proper amount of attention, " and while this may sound paradoxical, in his case, it is not for he has a quick intelligence that enables him to get | to the core of any problem quickly, and just reach the right decision. In motion I pictures, the man has been very much in 1 the public eye lately with the screening, •J world-wide, of Quo Vadis, which LeRoy directed in Rome. Quo Vadis cost ,000,000 1 to make, and will gross an estimated 0,-000,000. LeRoys two broodmares, Mother Tongue and Last Chick, currently are quartered at Amarillo Ranch. His only other major racing interest is in starting gates, and he helped make possible the development of the modern starting gate through financial encouragement to the Puett Company many years ago. He is currently a director of Puett. • A A Californians have welcomed Russ Haver-strite into the ranks of Golden State owners. While he has started on a modest scale, with but four horses, we rather imagine he may become something of a factor in American racing circles once he , , starts his planned program of building. Havenstrite is one of the best known names out this way in polo circles, and although i hj himself attained only a four goal rating, he was known as the "angel of polo at Riviera Country Club" because he thoughtfully I picked up the deficits every year. "Polo is in the doldrums," remarks Havenstrite, "and to keep in touch with horses, one just about has to own a stable of thoroughbreds. Our last polo field in this area. Riviera, is being cut up into subdivision building. Havenstrites other sports activities include big game fishing and big game hunting. He has hunted on safaris in Africa for the last two years, in between trips to Alaska and Northern C anada. He is, of course, in the oil business. Currently, the only major turf problem facing the man is I Whether or not to become a bidder and 1 buyer at the California, Keeneland, and I Saratoga sales or endeavor to purchase some made horses. j j
