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j Between Races By OSCAR OTIS Racing Given Clean Bill of Health Bad Press Said Due to Hangers-On Del Mar Plans Many Improvements DEL MAR-, Calif., Aug. 19. Ernest Roll, District Attorney of Los Angeles, tells us his office is convinced that racing presents no "police problem," i.e., poses any special problems of law enforcement. We took his remarks to mean that racing as an industry had the confidence of police agencies, and if so, this is a gratifying status for the turf. While we are not at liberty to quote the man directly, we gathered that the dis trict attorneys office took a dim view of the few unfortunates who go wrong financially, most notably through embezzlements, and blame their troubles and subsequent jailing on the pari-mutuel wickets. The official position seems to be that certain people will go wrong regardless of the pari-mutuels, and that even if there were no racing, the percentage of such wrongdoers would not be lessened; A man who is bent on going wrong will find the outlet, racing or no racing. A few years ago, it was a fad for embezzlers in particular to blame race tracks, for their troubles because they felt that pari-mutuel transactions were not amenable to an audit. But that phase seems to be over and we hear of few such alibis lately. District Attorney Roll did make one point, however, worthy of mention. He intimated that as far as he could see, racing got most of its bad press not from people in the industry but from a hanger-on fringe element. However, he . went a step further and hinted that the abolition of racing would hot get rid of this fringe clement at all, but rather it would continue to exist as before and attach itself to some other line of endeavor which was to their liking. District Attorney Roll recently completed a series of articles for a Los Angeles metropolitan newspaper on the subject of crime prevention, and one of these articles dealt exclusively with the gyp artists, who thrive on your gullibility. In it, a variety of gyp rackets were listed and explained, and those dealing with racing were just small part of the over-all picture. Yet the racing swindles had a common denominator with the others. In general, Roll said, "Beware of get-rich-quick schemes, the big bargain, bait offers, and the something for nothing approach, for even while you are reading this there are sharp-eyed, fast-talking men and women who are thinking up new gimr micks to empty your pocketbook. Any time you are offered a deal even slightly on the shady side, you will be wise to pass it up. The bunco man thrives on shady deals for once he gets his victim in the middle of an illegal transaction he has little to fear from the law. The victim usually finds it too embarrassing to complain to the authorities." In the section dealing on racing swindles, he lists an item "The race fix, the hot tip straight from the jockey, or any opportunity to participate in easy-money at the race track is always on the shady side. Stay away from such deals if you want to keep your money." Incidentally, States Attorney General Pat Brown, who enjoys ah afternoon at the races whenever press of business permits, confirms Rolls ideas and remarks that on the state level, facing as an industry poses no special problems. "I have some interesting statistics in my office at Sacramento," Brown tells me, "and the next time you are in the Capitol, stop by and look at them." This is an invitation we intend to keep at the first possible opportunity. Al Hart, president of Del Mar, confesses to being driven almost out of his mind on the problems presented management by the unprecedented popularity of the Del Mar summer season, which sees an average week-day crowd just about fill the plant to comfort, but which crowd of a Saturday crams the place to above capacity. "As far as we are concerned, the racing itself is of such calibre that it is taking care of itself," Hart said. "So the basic problem of manage-.ment from here on is to properly accommodate the people who wish to enjoy the racing programs. Del Mar feels that the ultimate growth of racing now is tied in directly to plant Continued on Page Thirty-Nine BETWEEN RACES j By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Three improvement, coupled with the expedition of traffic. Frankly, we did not anticipate the great upsurge in attendance which has marked this summers meeting:. Nor does the management take any personal credit for it. Its just that racing is becoming more popular all the time on its own merits as a sports spectacle and, therefore, it behooves management to provide the facilities for the public. Our original plans for expansion in the future season have been revised upward in view of what is happening this summer." The California State Fair at Sacramento is stepping out of the alfalfa into the blue grass with the announcement that the Governors Handicap, traditional big race of the season, has been elevated in value to 5,000 added. When it is remembered that the minimum purse at Sacramento is ,200, the emphasis-upon the stake is apparent at a glance. It is noteworthy that the two major fairs in the state, the State and Los Angeles County at Pomona, are going all out on- stakes presentations as a solid method of at once upgrading their sport and selling it to the public. Pomona, for instance, Is going to three 0,000 added events this summer, and is just short of offering a stake every other day. Sacramento also is going in for sharply graded purses, with overnights ranging from the minimum mentioned to ,500, with the track guaranteeing that during the 10 days at least 21 races will carry a purse of ,000 or more. The Governors Handicap, incidentally, will offer fifth money, 00. Barring a couple of war years, when i the state fair grounds was used as an ammunition and supply dump by the Army, there has been racing at Sacramento since 1854. Just about the turn of the century the Sacramento meeting was deemed one of the most important in the nation, along with the long-abandoned but not forgotten course at Butte, Montana. The racing went into the doldrums, but was not given up, during the lean years when pari-inutuels were illegal in California, and has had a steady growth since 1934, when the present turf law was enacted. In any event, we are interested in the item that a meeting such ,s Sacramento has found that an outstanding stake, relatively speaking, is a foundation of intense public interest and is a real stepping stone toward growth. It is a further indication that those who decry the 00,000 purses as a "vulgar display of money" and taking from the poor horses to give to the rich are waging a highly vocal but nonetheless losing fight against the tide. Sacramento, like Santa Anita, holds to the conviction that big stakes, in the long run, tend to upgrade minimum purses rather than be raced at their expense.
