Hollywood Entries Kept Open All Day as Boycott is Started: Only 36 Horses Entered by Noon as HBPA Members Vote to Stick to Their Demands, Daily Racing Form, 1953-05-12

article


view raw text

_ _ , Hollywood Entries Kept Open All Day as Boycott Is Started Only 36 Horses Entered by Noon as HBP A Members Vote To Stick to Their Demands HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., May 11. — The Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Associations boycott of Hollywood Park this morning successfully blocked the early closing of entries for the program which is scheduled to launch the Hollywood Turf Clubs 50 -day meeting tomorrow. By noon today only 36 horses had been entered for tomorrows eight races, including the 5,000 Hollywood Premiere Handicap, but the track management still had hopes of getting together a program for the inaugural. Entries were being held open all day. If by 7:00 oclock tonight there still is an insufficient number of entries to fill the program the opening of Hollywood Park will be deferred a day. Track Directors Meet Several hundred horsemen milled around the secretarys office this morning, but few ventured near the entry box. Several of those who did enter horses, are understood to be members of the HBPA or at least contributors to that organization. Meanwhile, Hollywood Park officials scheduled an emergency board of directors meeting for 5:00 p. m. PDT, to decide what course of action to pursue. By a standing vote last night the HBPA unanimously decided to boycott the Hollywood Park meeting until their original demand for 40 per cent of the tracks share of the handle and breakage was guaranteed them in purses. At a "drastic action" meeting at the Inglewood Country Club, the 200 members present backed the stand of the HBPAs board of directors to boycott the session and refuse to name their horses through the entry box until their demands are met. Attorney C. Ray Robinson, spokesman for the HBPA, said "It is unfair to the smaller tracks to impose something on them that we do not have the courage to obtain from the larger tracks. We assured Continued on Page fire ► | .».- .!.:;. u~ri!l~*-~~*m~~*!m*mmmmmm**i~*mmmmimm*m*-mmmmmmmfmmmm Hollywood Entries Kept Open All Day as Boycott Is Started Only 36 Horses Entered by * Noon as HBP A Members Vote To Stick to Their Demands Continued from Page One Gene Mori of Tanforan when he granted our 40 per cent formula that it was also to apply to Hollywood and Santa Anita." Sunday afternoon a majority of the California division directors met with Robert O. Read, national HBPA president, to discuss their course of action. After a two-hour conference they decided to hold fast to the Tanforan formula. This decision was presented to the mass meeting of the horsemen in the evening and they endorsed it. One dissenting voice was heard before the standing vote was taken. It belonged to Jim Howe, who said he was a Hollywood Park stockholder, and he noted that the Hollywood purse schedule called for 00,-000 extra for the horsemen, whereas he had received only an extra dollar dividend since he had purchased his stock. Howes remarks were answered with a chorus of boos. Wont Race Until Controversy Ends Trainers Willie Molter, Allen Drumheller, Ralph West and Bob Roberts said they had been instructed by their patrons not to race until the controversy was settled. Prominent owners Rex Ellsworth, William Black, Elmer Smith, Mrs. Harold Morton and George Ring spoke out for the HBPA cause. From Hollywood Park, general manager James Stewart said the outcome of the meeting was no surprise, and he issued the following statement: "Our stable area is nearly filled with horses. All of these are at Hollywood Park either under a gentlemans agreement or in accordance with a written statement by the horsemen responsible for them that they are here to race in good faith regardless of any action by the HBPA. "We are certain that the big majority of horsemen who have made agreements with us will stick by their word. "We will proceed with our race meeting as scheduled and licensed by the California Horse Racing Board. The public can be assured that it will be in no way inconvenienced and will receive its usual courteous treatment." Attorney and spokesman Robinson also advised all horsemen to ignore the opinion of deputy attorney general William V. OConnor that their licenses might be confiscated if they failed to cooperate with the track. He said, "If you receive any citations send them along to me and dont worry." Barred From Track John Beverly, secretary of the HBPA in California, this morning told Daily Racing Form that he had been officially barred from Hollywood Park by general manager James Stewart. He said when he came to the track he was stopped at the gate by a track policeman who advised him of the ban. Beverly said he though this as "an injustice" and that he intends to "take steps to correct is as far as the governor." Beverly added that the ban, according to the policeman, also applied to Ed Friendly, chairman of the HBPAs purse committee, and Tom Sheehan, editor of the Horsemens Journal. Stewart this morning said that the stable area ban had been lifted at 10 oclock. He said, "The ban on persons with no direct business in the stable area was imposed yesterday afternoon due to the fact I had been advised there might be internal trouble in the area until the horsemen decided what their final action would be. Inasmuch as they have voted their decision, the ban was lifted at 10 oclock this morning when I decided there would be no trouble in the stable area. All persons with the proper credentials, including officers of the HBPA and the editor of the Horsemens Journal, will be admitted." J. D. PUCKETT— Saddled The Gink for winning performance in St. Matthews Purse at Churchill Downs.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1953051201/drf1953051201_1_4
Local Identifier: drf1953051201_1_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800