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BETWEEN RACES byoscarotis GARDEN STATE PARK, Camden, N. J., May 11. Eugene Mori of Garden State Park, is coming up with the seeming impossible as of the fall meetings, to wit, a new heating system which will work in the open air almost as well as in the closed areas of the race track. While it is true that the heat will not disperse its benign influence on cojd days out onto the actual apron and near the outer rail, it will be felt in the open areas 6f the grandstand and clubhouse under the roof and extending for quite a bit of yardage out from the roof into pure open space if a driving wind does not complicate the set-up. In other words, it will work pretty well on days which are just plain cold andor rainy. All preliminary construction work on the heating system has been completed, but the final installations will have to await the close of the spring meeting. Insofar as a race track is concerned, the idea is a radical one, for while some tracks are heated, they make full use of either enclosed areas, of the facility close to such areas at will. As for instance, the glass frontage of the stand at New Orleans Fair Grounds, which can be put into use at will, or in effect removed to make for an open air stand in fair weather. Insofar as the open air areas at Garden State to be effected, the system will drop the actual temperature only a few degrees, but will dehumidify the air, the humidity being the worst part of the cold, or at least the part which causes people the most discomfort. AAA The Monmouth Park people tell me that at long last, they will be in the happy position of making a genuine pitch for New York metropolitan patronage this summer regardless of whether the competitive racing in the Empire State is on Long Island or Saratoga. Heretofore, -Garden State Plans to Heat Open Air Areas Monmouth in Vigorous Pitch to New Yorkers Turf Show Foal Named by Government Clerk Letter Reveals Public Sense of Ownership Monmouth has had its best days when the New York racing transferred upstate. The Monmouth bid will be based on a new time factor which will become a reality perhaps in mid-meeting, namely, the opening of a section of the Garden State Parkway. But the parkway authority in Trenton has forbidden the track to make use of parkway directions in its preliminary advertising of publicity, feeling that to do so would be premature inasmuch as opening date for the vital section from the New York area -to the vicinity of Monmouth is still in doubt. However, a good guess is that the parkway will be in use long before Monmouth is closed, although nobody will hazard the opinion it will be ready by the opening day. By motor, the parkway will bring the patrons to the track gates in about , 45 minutes from the Hudson River, a time quite comparable to that needed to go to a Long Island track from mid-town Manhattan by any means of present day transport. If New York patrons take to the new parkway with alacrity, it well could be that Monmouth would shatter . all existing attendance marks, and by a wide margin on days that Long Island racing prevails, and when the racing , is at Saratoga, the figure well could prove tremendous. AAA One of the finer bits of public relations during the , mid-winter turf show at Miami last winter was the display of a matron and foal in the Miami Beach Auditorium, along with a contest to name said foal, a sprightly colt. , More than 20,000 names were submitted, by the public , . , , , to Florida owner and breeder, Carl G. Rose, who, with his advisors, has finally made a selection. Before making the announcement as to the winner and name, the people who made the show possible, Ruth Chilton of Philadelphia and Dick Peters of Coral Gabies, thoughtfully got clearance from The Jockey Club. The colt, a son of Noble Hero, will be known as "Show Hero." The man who submitted the winning name, and by so .doing won a 00 bond as well as a moral interest in the colts future, was Charles W. J. Lenard, a clerical. employe of the Federal Government in Washington, D. C. In a letter, Lenard has made a telling point as to- how the "average fan" feels about racing, and while we have no wish to moralize, it still should be mentioned as a matter of public interest. AAA Write Lenard: "Although I have been following the races for the past few years, I have been unable to engage in the sport except to the extent of spending an occasional day at thet rack. So, the opportunity extended by you Rose-Chilton-Peters at the turf show to name the foal gave me the feeling of being able to participate in racing to a much greater extent. Naming the colt has afforded me a feeling of kinship and personal pride-much as though the little foal were mine, at least as sort of proxy owner." This corner has long been of the belief that any person who buys as much as a two dollar ticket at the pari-mutuel windows of any race track, let alone have the rare privilege of naming a colt under the circumstances such as the turf show afforded, in effect was buying a share of ownership in the horse of his choice. This feeling of ownership on the part of the fan, as seen by the whispered or shouting instruction or encourage-, ment to horse or jockey, or both, seems to me to be one reason why racing is becoming the nations number one Continued on Page Forty-Three BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty-Eight sport. The patron has the rightful reason to feel that he is part and parcel of the turf. It follows that basically, starters in a race become for the duration of the race public property, and any owner who feels that "because he is paying the bills, the horse is mine to do as I choose," is dead wrong. Indeed, in this day of racing 100 per cent for purses, the public pays the bills and as such owns the horse even though only temporarily. AAA We had a long chat with both Miss Chilton and Dick Peters here at Garden State, as well as with several competent critics, and all hands seem agreed not only that the first turf show was worthwhile, but that it has a definite future. The entrepreneurs learned a lot at the first show, knowledge which can be used to good advantage in the future. And, as the experience of Garden State has shown, some things developed, primarily for the show can be used to good advantage elsewhere. We refer to an item that the Garden State exhibit at the show was kept intact,- and is currently on display in a prominent spot in Gimbels Philadelphia store. An estimated 6,000 people per hour pass the exhibit. The first show, by the way, just broke even, but that did not dishearten the people who established the event, because they realize that to be worthwhile, a contribution to racing and its broad public relations was of paramount importance, any modest financial gain strictly secondary.
