view raw text
JustNormal Maintenance Of Delaware Racing Strip No Rolling or Scraping, Pardee Says, Before Records Were Set DELAWARE PARK, Stanton* Del., June 18. — The record-breaking performances of King Ranchs High Scud and Bayard Sharps Hannibal at Delaware Park last week-end became more impressive today when track superintendent Clarke M. Pardee said there was no rolling or scraping of the racing strip before these races, merely normal maintenance procedure. High Scud won the mile and a sixteenth Kent Stakes in l:421//s, clipping two-fifths of a second from the former mark shared by Natchez and Plucky Maud. Hannibal passed up the Kent to gallop home a five-length victor in the six-furlong Pan Zareta Purse. His time of 1 : 09 obliterated the old track standard of 1:10% and was within four-fifths of a second of Boleros world record set at very fast Golden Gate Fields in 1950. "The track had as much cushion as ever Saturday, if not more," Pardee said. "On Friday evening, it had the periodic remixing of the topsoil, or loam, which supplies the four-inch cushion to protect horses underpinning. We used the drag harrows, but the strip was not rolled or scraped and no effort was made to make it faster, or other than normal. What we did was normal maintenance such as takes place three or four times during a meeting and always following heavy rains. "You can attribute Saturdays fast times to the fact that the re-mixing of the top-soil meant a livelier but safe cushion. We had a six-day rainy period that washed away some_of the fine topsoil. So we mix the soil along the inner rail with that farther out, which makes the cushion springier, gives it more life. "That topsoil comes from our own track property, from the meadows in our plant. Under that loam is what youd call a sublayer, 18 inches of sand, and we have an excellent drainage system. The fresh top-soil contains a high percentage of humus, which accounts for the springy cushion. Every four years, one inch of topsoil is added to make up for an annual quarter-inch less by erosion caused by rain, wind, etc. This was done last spring and resulted in a livelier, springier cushion."
