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BETWEEN RACES % osc« ore BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., May 18.— Within the trade, so to speak, shop talk almost always gets around to the turf and its public relations in the broadest sense, hence we were more than surprised and even a little startled when one of the best public relations men in America remarked, while waiting for the Withers field to go to the past Saturday, that: "Racing has the best public relations of any sport in America." This was from a non-racing goodwill expert who comes to the track only occasionally, as do millions of others, as a recreational pastime. Explains the man, who asked that I not identify him by name. "In my business, Im borrowing ideas from the race tracks to promote goodwill for some of my industrial clients. The final test of public relations, as .to whether or not it is doing a good jub, is that of public acceptance of the product, in your case, horse racing. That acceptance has only one true yardstick, attendance. Racing has shown a steady and sustained year-to-year increase. It is my observation that the most talk about racings poor public relations comes from people within racing itself, who often are too close to the picture to get an objective perspective. If your business is doing well, as measured by your gate, then you can consider that a good job has been done. I know that people in baseball and football think racing has done a remarkable job and the sports national public relations are excellent. AAA "Part of my job has been to analyze newspapers, which I have done over a period of many years, and it is my opinion that in the main, the coverage has been adequate, fair, and along the lines of general readership interest. This coverage no doubt will get even better in the years ahead. There are a few weak spots in the nation, but nothing of a serious nature. Here in New York, for in- Turf Public Relations Rated Exceptional Public Acceptance Said Success Yardstick Nations Press Treatment Adequate, Fair Another View of Racings State Attorneys stance, most of the blasts have been at the failure of the tracks to build a new park and adequately accommodate its public, but at the same time, it is admitted that as for the racing itself, New York has, day in and day out, perhaps the finest racing in the country. In the last five years, most of racings bad press has come from isolated instances, like the Larry MacPhail incident at Bowie. Now, Larry has been a sick man, which is the only explanation for the incident that makes sense, but the prompt reaction to right the situation kept the incident just that — an incident. And if you dont think that racings public relations are pretty good, just remember that some people are blaming the shifting of the Boston Braves to Milwaukee on the competition provided by racing in New England. Of course, a study will prove this simply is not true, but I think it proves my point that people outside the turf circle give racing credit for doing a much better job than do the people in racing." AAA At Belmont on Saturday, we also received another viewpoint on racing and also from a source who did not wish to be quoted by name. He refers to our recent column in which we interviewed Benjamin Taub, legal counsel to the New Jersey Racing Commission, which brought into bold relief the larger role now being played in turf government by attorneys, and particularly attorneys assigned by their states to racing precedure. He comments: "While it is true that racing now operates under state laws as against the old rules of The Jockey Club, all hands must recognize that some restraint must be used or racing will find itself involved in legalistic red tape which could strangle it. As a rule, a racing board is an administrative body with wide powers of discretion, and often that discretion involves points which would not be considered evidence under the rules of evidence in a court of law. Take rulings of the stewards, for instance. Stewards are pretty much like- umpires at ball games, they call a strike a strike, or a ball a ball, or a safe on base or an out. Their decisions are not subject to court review. AAA "Of course, some decisions of the stewards are rightfully subject to court review where they effect the "withholding, say, of a license, but I think that racing had better get a new attitude on that one. The withholding of a license does not, as such, bar a man from the so-called right to make a living any more than the barring of an inveterate smoker in a munitions plant would bar him from making a living. There are poor security risks in any line of endeavor who even though their intentions are good shouldnt be working at that particular profession. As, for instance, a cab driver with a proneness to accidents. The withholding of a license merely means that a man should earn a living some other way, and is not punishment in the sense that the man is either fined or put in jail. Some folks just dont belong in racing any more than some people simply shouldnt be entrusted with driving a cab. Both are licensed professions." AAA Galloping horses at Garden State Park is Dick Mc-Kenna, formerly one of the better race riders in New England and who is trying for a comeback after doing a bit of shooting, and being shot, in Korea. McKenna, now only 24, started riding in 1946; and did better than average until 1951, when Uncle Sam tapped him on the shoulder Continued on Page Thirty-Fire BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty for service, and within a few months he found himself on the firing line in Asia as a rifleman. He was hit in the shoulder with a shell, but fortunately, quick and good surgery saved the use of the arm, now as good as ever. McKenna received his discharge only last month, and, after a three-week holiday with his parents in Rhode Island, came back to the track to get fit, take off some pounds induced by Army chow, and he hopes to launch his saddle comeback with the opening of Monmouth Park. Like everyone else in racing, we wish McKenna well, and hope the good people of Jersey will give him an opportunity to get started. A number of riders have fought, and well, in the Korean skirmishing, and at least two have made excellent comebacks. We refer to Merlin Volzke, who was away for five years, then returned to the West Coast turf wars in good saddle form, and more recently, Billy Parnell, who quickly showed California fans a few months ago that his long service had not impaired his saddle ability one whit. During World War II., racing kept a prideful tab on its citizens in uniform and on the battle fronts, but the Korean fighting has evoked no such reaction. Maybe it is a police action only, as some would have you believe, but It nevertheless is a police action with real bullets, as McKenna s shoulder would well attest. All these returning vets are asking is a break, and they richly are entitled to it, for they themselves are the first to admit that if they have actually lost their skill, ■their usefulness as riders is definitely over.
