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, c Between Races By OSCAR OTIS — Committee Finds Racing Healthy Study of Six-Day Week in Order? Southern Dates hpt Preferential HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 17. — A lengthy inquiry into the all-over aspects of California racing has been i i - ] -j £ j 1 ] : i completed by a senate interim committee, and chairman Harry Park-man, of San Mateo, who submitted the report to the legislature, indicated he found the sport not only flourishing but also providing worthwhile, clean entertainment for the people of the Far West. Parkman did make two candid observations, t ■ ■ ■ one, that the Southern California tracks received what amounted to~ preferential dates, two, that date allotments should be given by weeks rather than days and that, after getting a given number of weeks, a track could then make up its mind whether or not it wanted to race a five or six-day week. Because of the crowded race schedule with Santa Anita and Hollywood Park on a five-day week, overlaps have become a problem and some tracks in the north must race six days a week if they are to race their allotted number of days. On the first item, we do not agree that the southern tracks get preferential dates. It is a matter of record that before any track was built in the south, the San Francisco operators wislied no part of the winter, and handled the summer gingerly. San Francisco tracks raced spring and fall through their own choosing and we for one feel that the general date setup as prevails today is in the best interests of California racing as a whole. That the San Francisco Bay area is overbuilt by one race track, an item conceded even by" the management there, does not nullify the principle of the real desirability of the present date schedule. As for allotting dates by weeks rather than a given number of days, we feel that Parkman might have a point. All major tracks in the state are running about 10 per cent under the legal maximum, the dates having been pared by about that amount under a previous racing commission which felt that California was having too much racing. When the dates were thus sliced, a void was left in- the equine picture and it wasnt long before this void was filled, as we pointed out in a recent column,- by harness racing and quarter horse racing, or a combination of both. We feel that Los Angeles County has shown an insatiable demand for quality racing, and we also feel that it has the popula- , tion to support a bit more metropolitan racing than now prevails. The area is growing so fast that we f cant keep up with the figures, but the authorities here are planning on a population of just under seven million by 1960. And that seven million means the Los Angeles metropolitan district, ex-, p eluding the Del Mar area, for instance. * Anyway, failure to race its number of legal days has made the way for the f growth of these other forms of equine entertainment and, while we are not concerned with this, one way or the other* f we are merely pointing out that the people of California want racing to the point e where they will support in ever increas-" ing numbers almost year round activity in the southern part of the state. Which brings us back to the five-day ? week. Now, both Santa Anita and Holly-? wood have gone along on the five-day week principle for a number of reasons, and it is true that the horsemen have not suffered !s as much through losing an available racing day as might be imagined. Inasmuch as of !, purses are tied in directly to the handle, E. + average purses have been higher on the j. five-day week than they would have been !* on six, but total purses, of course, were P under. But even so, the six-day week J. would have much to recommend it in Southern California. For one thing, Los ] Angeles is practically on a five-day week, and hundred of thousands of people who J must work on Saturday and/or Sunday take Monday arid Tuesday as their off days. Many restaurants and almost all barber shops are closed on Monday, to j| name but two industry examples. 0 [2 The airplane plants are on a round-Is 0 the-clock schedule, and many of their 5 workers get their off days during the week. Failure to race on a Monday de- Continued on Page Thirty-Nine BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR. OTIS Continued from Page Thre* prives many of them an opportunity to ... enjoy a day a week at their favorite sport. As for an off Monday to give tourists a chance to see and enjoy recreational advantages of Southern California, we have yet to hear of a tourist who was forced out to the race track when hed rather have a Tuesday or Wednesday at the beach or mountains. After all, of the millions of tourists who come to Southern California annually, we imagine that all of them would still retain their freedom of choice as to where they spent their leisure time. A 10-week, 60-day meeting would have much in its favor, and perhaps little or nothing against it. As it is now, the tracks have but 45 days plus five for charity. Under a six-day week set-up, the tracks could have 55 for those sharing in the racing dollar, the largest recipient, of course, being the state, plus the usual five for charity. As for merchant disapproval, department store sales do not bear out the claim that Los Angeles is being overraced. And, within the last few years, through circumstance; a six-day week has been mandatory on occasion, and when those six-day weeks prevailed, we heard no protest from the merchants. The tracks ran the six days rather than lose days, and we have no doubt that Hollywood •Park would have gone to a six-day schedule, in part at least, for the current meeting had the dispute between management and the HBPA over purses kept the opening of the course delayed for one more day than it did, or if, on the other hand, there had not been a spread of a few open days before the scheduled opening of Del Mar. In summary, it seems to us that Los Angeles not only could "stand", but also really wants 120 days of racing as conducted at Santa Anita and Hollywood Park. The sport is so well on its way to becoming the greatest pastime of the millions in California that what held true even a few years ago is not of necessity true today. Perhaps Senator vParkmans study should be given careful consideration. We most certainly also agree with Senator Parkman that the state of the turf in California is most healthy. The sport has been free Itom scandal, and the-only unfavorable publicity has been that in connection with purse disputes. So far as we can learn, this unfavorable publicity has had its worst reaction in the catalyzing or "jelling" of the hitherto unorganized opposition to racing, which still does not pose a major problem in California but which is nevertheless a step in the wrong direction. We most certainly do not feel that the headlines stepped up the gate count, but rather attribute this to a normal, healthy growth in popularity of racing with the general citizenry.
