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ON THE WIRE By Hugh J McGuire ASCOT PARK Cuyahoga Falls Ohio May 5 A remedy to alleviate to some degree at least the problem of conducting racing at this course over a racing surface deluged with rain and under cold and un ¬ pleasant weather con ¬ ditions was voiced by Dan E Cronin general manager of this track in suburban Akron Cronin pointed out that the condition was al ¬ most an annual one and was due solely to w e a th e r conditions that do not vary materially from year to year Cronin would have the Ohio Racing Commission rearrange its date schedule in northern Ohio in the future so that the season would not open until two weeks later than this years April 14 It is an unusual occurence indeed to find manage ¬ ment in accord with a reduction of racing dates affecting its own plant of operations but Cronin would slash off the first two weeks of the season and reallocate dates equally among the four tracks in the northern section of the state stateA A A A AThere There can be no question that the weather here is unpleasant and snow flur ¬ ries were observed during the running of the races on Tuesday The track had been subject to almost continuous rainfall for some time earlier in the meeting and has had no chance since to dry out despite the herculean efforts of track superinten ¬ dent Leonard Utterback who has worked around the clock This condition is re ¬ flected in the office of racing secrtary Ra ¬ leigh Leigh who finds that trainers are loathe to enter their charges not so much because of the track condition as due to jfhe lack of opportunity to train their horses into facing condition Starter Ed Anthony also was handicapped in that there was no period for schooling horses prior to the opening of the meeting What little training was done early served to worsen the condition of the track rather than aid it tUronin said that he was quite content Weather Continues to Hit Ascot Later Opening Date Is Suggested Horses Not in Condition to Run tov abide by the decision of the majority of the jockeys quartered here as to whether they should ride under existing conditions In the final analysis he said the jockeys are the ones in racing who subject them ¬ selves most to the possibility of bodily in ¬ jury and they should be the judges of the safety or otherwise of the racing condi ¬ tions Certainly the track management did not want to see anyone hurt On the ques ¬ tion of horsemen entering their charges Cronin said that there were in the neigh ¬ borhood of 350 horses on the grounds whose names have not been in the entry box due to lack of opportunity to train These are horses who have wintered in the north Most of those horses in competition were recruited from racing centers in such as Charles Town Maryland New Orleans Hot Springs and New England EnglandA A A A AFollowing Following the current meeting Cronin plans to resurface the racing strip but pointed out that a study of this operation at other tracks had revealed that great care must be taken There were instances in which sand that would not blend with the existing conditions had been used on tracks only to find it washed away at the first rainfall It is a job requiring expert engineering advice in the selection of a top dressing that will become integrated suc ¬ cessfully with the present soil If the track had been resurfaced early this year with a soil that did not blend perfectly its con ¬ dition would be worse than it is now said Cronin He pointed out that this racing strip had been built for summer racing and was not now able to overcome repeated or constant raids by inclement weather con ¬ ditions A seasoned veteran on his job here is starter Ed Anthony and it required no time at all for him to recall race tracks over which the sport was conducted when the footing was in toUgher shape than it is here at Ascot Anthony began his career as an assistant starter back in 1926 and since that time he has been at it steadily in various capacities under several promi ¬ nent starters Much of his early work was done under George Palmer He had also served under Mickey Harris back in 1927 Some 10 years ago he joined the staff of starter John T Morrissey with whom he is still affiliated when not serving as starter in his own right rightA A A A AAnthonys Anthonys duties have found him in as widely separated areas as California Cuba Cubaand and New England and included a tour of hunt meetings in various states He is ably assisted by another member of Morrisseys crew here in O villa Tesser Tesser suf ¬ fered a fracture of a bone in his hand while handling a horse named Stuff early at this session The injured member has improved and the cast is in the process of being removed and Tesser is expected to again be in top shape to rejoin Morrissey at the upcoming meeting at Detroit An ¬ thony will remain here until this meeting is concluded and then he also will join Morrissey at the Motor City course An ¬ thonys other assistants here all ex ¬ perienced men are Charles Brown Bob Meyers William Carson and Joe Konchina Ray Carson brother of Bob is currently Iserving as outrider In Brief There is considerable current interest in the trot meeting to open May 12 and run 42 nights at nearby Painesville Raceway This is a project of Sol Silber man prexy of Randall Park The publicity for the meeting will be handled by Jay Scott who is affiliated with New York an ¬ nouncer Fred Capossela in a racing broad ¬ cast in Miami A display of cups and trophies to be contested for during the remaining days of this meeting is on view in the clubhouse and is of course headed by the sizable Ascot Gold Cup and its min ¬ iature replica to go to the rider of the winner Sharing prominence is the trophy for the Ascot Tin Cup which is precisely that and for which racing secretary Raleigh Leigh paid a dime It has been appropriate ¬ ly engraved C F Wagner has arranged to ship 10 horses from Ascot to Beulah Park and J OMeara will send 11 head from here to Fairmount Park
