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BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS BELMONT PARK Elmont L I N Y May 6 This corner hasnt the slightest idea as to how far science can go to safeguard racing but we daresay the electrical starting gate the photo finish the tote and the film patrol have been welcome de ¬ vices insof ar as everyone is concerned Hence we were more than interested to learn that the next step in scientific protection of the racing fan may be a new type scales for the weighing in and out of the riders This scale guaranteed by its maker a wellknown scale company automatically prints and issues a ticket with the weight as recorded as the man or jockey steps off the platform At the same time an inner recording device makes an automatic tape of all people weighed on said scale and this device is locked and sealed within the innards of the machine The whole operation is declared to be as tamperproof as the tote itself The racing program itself can be calibrated in the inner recording device and at the end of the day the record of actual weights carried can be double checked against the weights that were assigned and printed on the pro We violate no confidence when we reveal that the de ¬ vice was tried out at a track not more than 1000 miles from Belmont Park and that it worked pretty well but then for some reason the scale was abandoned in favor of the oldtime method But still another track also east of the Mississippi River is installing the recorderscale and will insist upon its use regardless of who or whom might be unhappy about it The thing is a costly gadget something in the neighborhood of 12000 Just what happened where the scale was used we are not prepared to say but the fact that there was some unhappness over Recording Scale Device Newest Turf Gadget Claim Eliminates Minor Human Error Factor Renick Cites TV Popularity in Hinterlands Says Gotham Racecasts Doing Job for Turf its introduction immediately gave rise to talk about the socalled human factor in the weighing in and out process from time immemorial the tendency of some slightly overweight riders to step on and off the scale in a hurry while the needle is still fluttering and for the clerk of scales to accept this rough approximation of the weight as being correct In general clerks have not been fussy about ounces but where an overweight has been more than 16 ounces such overweight is always an ¬ nounced to the public and is so carried in the form charts Of course the chance for human error always is possible The scale eliminates this So after the trial run plus the avowed intention of the other track manager to insist upon its use at his track it wpuld not be surprising if the gadget did not become standard at every major American track Surely the elimination of any chance of error in weight the basis of all handicapping with speed in our opinion being a minor factor in comparison would make the use of such a device mandatory It also would add another little item to the growing list which en ¬ gender public confidence the base upon which racings present popularity rests restsA A A A ASammy Sammy Renick the telecaster of New York State races for CBS remarks that TV may be able to make legions of friends for racing in areas that have no horse racing and which politicians in the past have not seen fit to legalize the sport Renick points out that for his regular TV stakecasts from New York tracks an average of 70 stations per week use them The programs are carded on a sustaining basis although the bill may be cut by local sponsorship of the programs Some weeks a few less than 70 stations accept the program because of other commitments but at times the figure has risen to 73 A look at the list coupled with volume of letters indicating listener interest shows that such unlikely places as Tex arkana Texas and San Angelo also in the same state have big audiences audiencesA A A A AFor For our color we have leaned toward the celebrity interview explains Renick as to the philosophy of the programs For one thing fans seems to realize that peo ¬ ple of the type we have on the screens would not lend their names or personalities to anything not entirely above board and worthwhile It is sort of guilt by asso ¬ ciation in reverse CBS answers every letter excepting those from obvious cranks and a good bit of the mail is turned over to me for reply especially those dealing with technical aspects of racing But from the huge volume of letters we have received it is obvious that many people in the more remote areas of the nation either have a distorted idea of racing or have no opinion at all Most are surprised that racing parks like Belmont are as beauti ¬ ful and that racing is conducted in such an atmosphere Perhaps I am prejudiced in so thinking but I believe that television is by far and away the most effective medium for the dissemination of knowlege about horse racing in nonracing areas yet devised Right now I feel that TV is building a reservoir of good will toward the sport in these areas good will which when it reaches a certain magnitude can only lead to the expansion of the racing empire of today Our guest celebrites have been most mostContinued Continued on Page ThirtySeven BETWEEN RACES RACESBy By OSCAR OTIS OTISi i Continued from Page FortyEight FortyEightcooperative cooperative often consenting to appear on the TV shows at considerable inconveni ¬ ence to themselves because they have felt that their appearance could contribute something however small toward racing Our audience by the way is comparatively strongest west of the Rockies Horses and People One of the outrider ponies here is a full brother of Fascinator Owner didnt like his looks as a year ¬ ling and ordered the trainer to give him away which he did as the owner destroyed the papers What the colt would have been as a racer is a moot question but he is a whiz at catching runaways Ac ¬ ceptance by George Humphrey Secretary of the Treasury to judge the forthcoming Maryland Yearling Show on the clubhouse lawn at old Pimlico is being hailed by American turf enthusiasts in general and Marylanders in particular Speaking of yearling shows a yearling last spring in the Virginia show didnt get as much as a look at a ribbon but went on to Saratoga and sold for 38500 However the jury is not in on this one as the colt has yet to make his first start Pat Farrell racing secretary at ArlingtonWashington is an ardent worker on the Atlantic sea ¬ board at the moment spreading the gospel of stakes racing in the Middle West If turf racing catches on at Belmont look for even tougher sledding for the jump set The hedge hoppers may become almost as extinct as the polo pony
