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BETWEEN RACES By Oscar Otisl HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif.,. May 29.— All that West Coasters know about Native Dancer is what they have read in the Daily Racing Form, and whether he will race again, we wouldnt know. However, we did check back with Ben A. Jones, of Calumet Farm, who only a few days ago had told us that in the future, the proper horse would come along under the right circumstances to win far more than the million plus earnings of Citation, and with the further observation that the horse to accomplish this feat need not of necessity be of the quality of Citation. Remarks Ben "You may recall at the time Citation passed the million dollar mark, Jimmy and myself "declared that the last 0,000 was the hardest. It is as true today, apparently, as it was a Jew years back. "I think at this time it might be of in-trest to your readers to know that we of Calumet-think there is a changing attitude on both the part of the public and the breeders to the value of an unbeaten horse and their final appraisal of such a horse. In this modern day type of racing, with rich purses following one after the other the year round, and with racing essentially for purses, the once thought of stigma of defeat is no longer a criterion in judging a horse as to either his place in history or as a potential sire. All horses of today, if they keep running long enough, will be beaten, either in handicaps or because of the incidence of some unsoundness. AAA * "In other words, being beaten is no longer to be regarded as a knock against a horse, a broad statement that I will qualify by adding under certain circumstances. The days of the unbeaten champion are about over. At least, for a champion who races through his five-year-old form. There is one thing certain about the operation of a big stable, any. big stable, including Calumet. Stakes are the life blood of such stables and breeding operations, and it is imperative that to win them, first you have to run. And if you run, the hazards of getting beat multiply. The key to greatness in the future of many horses will lie basically in soundness. The old timer who coined the phrase no foot, no horse was dead right, but he might also have gone a step further and added No leg, no horse. Most unsoundness of today is in the legs." •Million Dollar Mark Hard to Reach Ben Jones Analyzes Beaten Horses Trendex Hints Dancer TV Champ Whether Native Dancer is able to continue or not, Jones still holds to his original statement that Citations money record will be broken. As a corallary it might be mentioned that A. B. "Bull" Hancock of Claiborne has told us that modern day Aemrican racing demands a greater degree of soundness than prevailed in the distant past, and that in his studied, opinion, American breeding would meet the challenge by providing such horses in both quality and volume. It all adds up to a lot of itneresting speculation and contemplation, of the future. At the moment, Hollywood Park officials are genuinely sorry that Native Dancer will miss the new 00,000 stake on the Hollywood galaxy of added events.-The Californian down for its inaugural decision a week from Saturday. He had some sort of a chance of making it prior to his "bad step" at Belmont the other morning. AAA One unexpected tribute to Native Dancer came from Marge Lindheimer of Chicago and other observers who believe the 10 per cent fall off in Derby TV viewers in 10 key cities as reported by Trendex to Columbia Broadcasting System this year as against last year was because Native Dancer, as a three, was a definite TV idol, and while the Derby this spring was just as glamorous to racing fans as ever, Native Dancer had an appeal to people who were only casually interested in the turf. If the analysis of Miss Lindheimer is correct, and we for one think it is, then great "name" horses like Native Dancer can do a lot more for racing than most anyone up until now has been willing to admit. A A A It knocks into a cocked hat, to coin a phrase, the argument rampant only a few years ago that stakes distribution was too high, and rather more money, proportionately, should be allotted to the cheap horse who makes up the greater part of most any racing program. Rather the Native Dancer TV audience, again as gauged by the Trendex survey, would appear to make sound the premise that overnight average purses would be lifted more quickly through great horses because the great horses would attract new fans, new fans mean more pari-mutuel volume and that in turn means more purses, awards in America being much on a, percentage basis whether it is technically so or not. ► Last winter, this writer exclusively revealed the general outline for a big new building program at Del Mar which would make possible the tracks growth from its present status into a plant that would be truly major, with the criterion of "major" being an average handle of a million dollars a day. Turf architect Art Froellch was engaged to design the improvements, and some of this work would have been done in time for this summers meeting except the plans were held up by red tape in the office of the state architect. Clearance finally came through, and the work will begin this fall. AAA V The Del Mar problem was complex, because the place had to be enlarged and expanded to acommodate upwards of 30,000 fans in either downright comfort or, on Saturdays only, a reasonable facsimile of the same, but at the same time, president Al Hart and his board of directors insisted that not one bit of Del Mars famed informal "charm" be sacrificed. It was an order that demanded the approximation of the intimacy of a small but hugely popular night club in a setting, akin to the grand ballroom of New Yorks Plaza Hotel. But Froelich has reconciled the two ideals and thus Del Mar is assured of having its cake and eating It too. AAA Memorial Day is a spring landmark in far western racing, for at this time of the season, horsemen begin making plans to either strike out for other fields or divide their stables. In other words, the West Coasts second circuit is making preparations to get under way, which means Vancouver, Lbngacres, and later on Spokane in. the Northwest, and her in California, the wonderful fair circuit which is being upgraded so rapidly that it gives a hint that within say 10 years, it will be what amounts to a major circuit in its own right. AAA Longacres opens its 54 day season on Friday, June 25, and Pete Pedersen, the brilliant good will man for Joe Gottstein, has sent a long list of riders who will compete there, an indication that some top reinsmen will find the northwest pastures greener this summer. Longacres is proud of having developed some great, nationally known riders of today, including Johnny Adams, quite in the limelight with Hasty Road; Ralph Neves, Doug Dodson, Hedley Woodhouse, a New York fixture; Gordon Glisson, Walter Litzenberg, Otto Grohs, Alan Gray, Merlin Volzke and Grant Zu-felt. In any event, more exciting events, other than those occurring at Hollywood Park and Del Mar, are just around the corner.
