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ON THE WIRE By Hugh J McGuire ASCOT PARK Cuyahoga Falls Ohio May 6 Raleigh Leigh racing secretary here at Ascot Park celebrated his 45th birthday this week and one of his remarks was to the effect that he hoped that in the next 45 years he would not again encounter simi ¬ lar adverse conditions in his job that is being made difficult at pre ¬ sent because horsemen have been unable to get their charges into racing condition It is all a matter of weather conditions that prevented trainers from getting their wintered charges on the track for the necessary workouts As a result racing programs are slow to fill although the stable area is almost completely occu ¬ pied and there are an estimated 350 horses on the grounds who have yet to be entered in a race in the first 19 days of this 41 day session Closing time for entries has often run well into the afternoon and on occasion entry clerk Ralph J Pee Wee Oberleitner has been heard to remark Jbhat he is contemplating entering his mother inlaw to get a race filled filledA A A A ALeigh Leigh has been around race tracks long enough to have seen times when it was difficult to get races filled for a few days but the situation here has been continuous from opening day Leigh was practically raised on a track for he was born near the Emeryville course at Oakland California in 1909 Leighs father R A Dick Leigh now a well known official was then racing horses His mother and her sister rode pro ¬ fessionally on the flat and over hurdles and the younger Leigh still has records of some of their accomplishments The younger Leigh accepted his first job in 1927 when he was employed as a clerk in the office of the racing secretary at Aurora and Washington Park Since that time he has held every position connected with this office with the exception of a steward and he has filled in at that task on occa Raleigh Leighs work has found him at such tracks as Jefferson Park in New Or ¬ leans the northern Ohio circuit including Bainbridge when that track featured thor ¬ oughbreds Fairmount Dade AkSarBen Sunshine Fair Grounds and several courses in New England His first job as racing secretary came at Fairmount Park in 1940 when he was 30 and he was believed to have been the youngest man in the country in this post at the time During his 1 jrst Weather Conditions Handicap Leigh Offered AllDistance Card Last Year Accepted First Track Job in 1927 year as a handicapper he was rewarded to see dead heats for first second and third in three of his handicaps His very first handicap required a photo finish to deter ¬ mine the winner It was at the Ascot track where Leigh compiled one of the most un ¬ usual records ever attained by a racing secretary Last year on Memorial Day as secretary he programmed a card of nine races all of which were conducted over distances in excess of one mile So far as we know this is some sort of record Para ¬ doxically this year Leigh offered a card of eight races alL of which were at four and a half furlongs Last Saturday on his nine race program favorites accounted for eight of the races and the other went to the second choice choiceA A A A AHere Here again at Ascot Park is a young trainer who makes a specialty of leading his rival conditioners each season in the matter of the number of winners he Maxwell own their own string currently numbering 16 Last year Maxwell led the list of trainers here with 21 vic ¬ tories The previous year he attained the same honor with 24 tallies To date this year he has 14 winners Yet Pete Max ¬ well has been training horses on recog ¬ nized tracks only since 1949 his previous experience having been gained on the bushes of the West The first recognized track at which he trained was the oval at Brush Colorado His decision to make a profession of horse training came about in a rather unusual way Maxwells home town is Elk City Oklahoma and he tells us that in this territory the natives would match anything for a wager when they got together over the week ends Saddle horses were pitted against each other for side wagers and at times even men and boys were matched Maxwell had a good knowledge of horses and his opinions were sufficiently successful to prompt him to make a career of this work workA A A A AMaxwell Maxwell gives two reasons for his ability to come put on top at the local meeting His first is that the conditions of the races offered here early in the season make it easier for him to win The races are often fashioned for horses who have not won for a considerable period and Maxwell brings to local competition horses that have win ¬ tered in Oklahoma where he has a better chance to get them ready than do his rivals who must winter in areas where training is restricted by weather conditions Others of his local rivals have been racing throughout the winter and their charges often are in need of a rest whereas the Maxwell run ¬ ners are fresh But it is the condition book that gives Maxwell his biggest assist and he admits the going gets tougher as the season advances advancesA A A A AMaxwells Maxwells other reason is that he is able to take horses that have shown a degree of class but have broken down and work with them until they are sound enough to run He treats every horse according to his best judgment of what is required mak ¬ ing his rules fit the individual Unlike many trainers he prefers older horses with some class to younger animals even if those with more age require treatment Young horses are subject to being claimed more often Maxwell finds while horsemen hesi ¬ tate to halter patchedup cripples Mr and Mrs Maxwell have two daughters Shirley Ann is four and Jeannie Ann is just one yearold From here they will probably ship to River Downs DownsA A A A AIn In Brief Gordon H Pearce veteran Maryland conditioner is earning his share of purses with his fivehorse string For Mrs Caroline Phillips of Frederick Md he has in training Connie Rose and Deep Fen For N J Ward Jr he has Stargard His own racers are Southerlee and Mi Scan ¬ dal Pearce informs us that Jerome Monks from whom he purchased Southerlee has secured a 415acre farm near Middleburg j Va P Da Lee Watts who formerly trained Turbine and other successful horses in the East is a visitor Charles M Goldberg of Coxeyville Md is racing a small string at this course Entertainer Joe Frisco is an Ascot regular and has a wide acquaintance among horsemen The nine horses in the public stable of Kenneth McLaughlin are the property of D A Livingston Pittsburgh steel man Mr and Mrs W S Eagle of Hyattsville Md John A Reeves of Carlisle Pa Henry J Jones of Newville Pa and the Florida Sun Stable of Mrs L B Taylor McLaughlin plans a campaign at Waterford Park at the conclusion of the current meeting Racing secretary Raleigh Leigh named the seventh race on Thursday the Emeryville for his California birthplace
