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immmmmmmmmmmmmm REFLECTIONS by n£Lon dunstan CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — Recently we stated that any change in Florida racing dates would be a mistake as it would be ruinous to Tropical Park and seriously impair the stake schedule at Hialeah. It has been charged by some that Jimmy Donn, of Gulf-stream Park, was behind the proposed change. But we stated in our former article that Donn had often said he was seeking no change and that he had nothing to do with the bill that now has the attention I of the lawmakers in Tallahassee. We received a number of letters, pro and con, regarding this Florida bill. One, in particular, was from Horace Wade, of Gulfstream Park, with a postscript by Donn. Evidently they felt that we were only concerned with the effect this change would have on the other two tracks. In the letter, they present the case for Gulfstream Park, and, as they have every right to be heard, we are offering it here. The subject of dates lias long been a disputed one in the Sunshine State, but it has now reached the stage where the Florida legislators are giving thought to the expressions of the officials at the three tracks in the Miami area. AAA Wade, a fine broth of a lad, writes: "The late president Roosevelt, in settling some of his political arguments, used to say: Lets get -the f acts straight. That is why this letter is written vtd you, particularly in view of your column discussing the so-called Gulfstream Bill before the legislature. We did not* sponsor this bill, we have no representation in Tallahassee, and wejtfill continue to accept — as always%ates which apparently neither Hia-» leah nor Tropical Park want. In shedafeg tears over the fate of other tracks in the area, it is proper, however, also to consider Gulfstream Park, a track whose only faults Florida Lawmakers Discuss Dates Some Seek Mid -November Opening Wade States Case for Gulfstream Jimmy Donn Wants to Go Fishing seem to be a willingness to take a chance, try to advance Florida racing to a point of competition with California, and attempt to build higher purses for the horsemen. We plumbed the bottom of the barrel trying to get racing programs together. A glance at the day-by-day races for the past two weeks of the meeting will reveal this fact. We have some 550 to 600 horses in the area, of which nearly half are lame or sore. This number of horses is about one -third of what might be expected in mid-November. AAA "During the Tropical Park meeting, a total of some 35 to 40 horses daily made the trip by van from Gulfstream to Tropical to engage in the days races. For the past week, some 15 to 22 made the trip to Gulfstream from both Tropical and Hialeah combined We lost our jockeys, our horses and our players, and if it were not for our strategic location we could not possibly survive. There seems some agitation on the part of many to worry about the inability of other tracks in the area to maintain a high stake schedule if dates were moved ahead. Until Gulfstream Park paved the way for rich stakes with its 00,000 Florida Derby, there was no really fine stake schedule in Florida. I am sure that any one of the three tracks could take any date setup which gave it the month of February and match last Februarys stake and purse distribution dollar for dollar, and be happy to do so. In recent weeks, northern tracks sent telegrams to our horsemen, demanding that they ship at once or lose their assigned stall space. We were in competition with Illinois, Kentucky. New England, New York and Maryland. In mid-November. New York is closed; so are Kentucky, Illinois and other Midwestern tracks, while racing in New England has transferred to Lincoln Downs at less than a mile. AAA "By mid-November this past year, some 1,800 horses were already in the area. Compare that with the 550 to 600 on hand today. If racing of this calibre wont attract racing fans, as you stated in your column, then what about the brand of sport we are attempting to give players today? However, as I said earlier, these are just facts that come to mind at once, and with no real wish to enter any controversy about a matter which seems to be the state of Floridas prerogative. The legislation is apparently sponsored by the state taxation committees in a desire to add materially to the revenue of the state. Gulfstream Park will continue to sit on the sidelines and plan for the future; plans which have already lifted the local sport out of the doldrums and placed us in a position of competition with California." To this letter, Donn, president of Gulfstream, added this postscript: "Have read Horaces letter. Gulfstream is closed, and I am not going to Tallahassee. Frankly, I am going fishing." The above letter is all that is necessary to stress that Gulfstream does have hard sledding when April 1 rolls around. But while the Hallandale track would benefit by starting the season two* weeks earlier, we still contend that it would jeopardize the existence of Tropical, as we do not believe that horsemen will go to Florida in early November any more than they will remain there, as Wade points out. after April 1, when northern racing gets under Continued on Page Forty-Four REFLECTIONS j By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Eight way. Despite Wades letter, the Gulfstream meeting was highly successful. AAA While Wade and Donn offer the case for Gulfstream, we do not believe Nate Herz-feld and his associates are overstating their side of it when they say the proposed move would just about ruin Tropical Park. Talking for Hialeah, Sam McCormack pointed out that the stake schedule would be thrown out of balance. He is correct in that, for the Everglades would have to be moved up to the last few days in January or the first few in February. And the Flamingo also moved two weeks forward, along with the other important stakes events. Often we hear the argument that if New England and West Virginia racing can be carried on to December, there is no reason why horses could not race in New York until the same time. Last year Bowie operated until mid-December. While it may never happen, the Wicks wallop" may be an example of the fact that Albany lawmakers are ever on the search, as they are in Tallahassee, for Mays and means to increase state revenue. Should New York ever have a later closing, it would be impossible for Tropical or any other Florida track to get sufficient horses in mid-November. The only answer would be closing their gates. When everything is taken into consideration, we still believe that an early November opening would be dangerous for Florida racing.
