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I flWPl " Delaware Park Notebook By JOE HIRSCH What Makes Track Slow or Fast? Surface Requires Constant Care Safety Is Primary Consideration DELAWARE PARK, Stanton, Del., June 11. What makes a racing strip slow or fast? There has been a good deal of dis-cussion on the subject I down down through through t the h e down down through through t the h e years, often generating more heat than light. Clark Pardee, the veteran track superintendent here who built the Delaware strip originally, says that it is composition, rather than depth as is popularly supposed, that affects the speed of a track track and and he he cites cites the the c l r p c v c r i r t i 1 I I 1 1 1 1 . B j g r a t a a . r d flWPl " track track and and he he cites cites the the Stanton oval as an example. Pardee, Don Ross and Bryan Field insist on safety as a primary consideration and agree that they are willing to sacrifice split seconds for the well being of the thoroughbreds, "However," Pardee pointed out yesterday, We have a four-inch cushion throughout the course and yet you saw Sorceress time for five furlongs in the Polly Drummond :58j5. That isnt cantering." The track is composed of 90 per cent sand and 10 per cent clay and silt and Pardee brought out a glass jar with the .ingredients immersed in water as a graphic example. The clay and silt helps bind the course together but the proper- tions must be carefully controlled to in- sure good drainage. "We get the topsoil from our own land," says Pardee, "and since we have several hundred acres we are never caught short. Our track basev of sand and gravel is two feet deep in most places but increases to eight feet the length of the homestretch. We roll the track each winter and then strain the entire surface for loose rocks and other foreign objects before the racing season begins. Youd be surprised at what we find broken wrist watches, fountain pens, etc." s One of the features of the Delaware strip fs the open stone drain installed along the inside rail. "Its nothing more than a bank of small pebbles through which moisture drains into the ditch where pipes carry off the excess," explains Pardee. "Tracks are banked toward the infield and most of them dry from the outside in, but this stone drainage seems to absorb water from below the surface and our strip dries from the inside out." Pardee has about 200 men in his department, recently adding a sizeable group to take over janitorial services in the grandstand and clubhouse. "We have a big job here and it keeps us busy," he explains. "We maintain the two steeplechase courses, among other tasks, and our stakes course offers the most trying jumps of any major track in the country." Here again Delaware officials insist on safety and the hurdles are so constructed that any horse who can jump 30 inches off the ground should be able to brush through the hedges without injury. Pardee began his work in this area when he built a training track for Willie DuPont. He then was hired for the Delaware construction job and has played an important role in the building of the Monmouth and Santa Anita strips as well. Around the Track: Alan Clarke, the trainer, was a pitched of -note in his salad days. He played in the majors briefly with Washington and "Cincinnati but a bad leg forced his retirement. He hurled a no -hitter for Waynesburg of the Blue Ridge league in 1921 and had a 25-7 record in that circuit one season. He has a two-year-old named Eppa Jeptha after his old teammate and one of the greatest pitchers ever to wear Cincinnati uniform Eppa Jeptha Rixey. . Bryan Field heads for the nearby campus of the University of Delaware Saturday for the graduation of his son Bryan, Jr. The ceremony is the second of its kind for Field in the last few days. He was at South Bend, Ind., last week-end when his son Tom received a bachelors degree from Notre Dame . . .Gene Mori left his Jersey haunts for an afternoon of racing at Delawares verdant oval yesterday. Mrs. Marion W. OConnors five-year-old mare La Corredora, who finished third in Wednesdays Top Flight at Belmont, is scheduled for an appearance in the 00,000 added New Castle Handicap here on July 5, the worlds richest race for fillies and mares . . Mrs. Edward S. Moore of the Circle M Farm is back from Continued on Page Fifty-Four r . Delaware Notebook By JOE HIRSCII Continued from Page Ten a trip to Belmont and the ball held there last night.-. .Wednesdays eighth race produced a one-in-a-million chart in which all of the eight horses finished exactly a length and a half behind each other. Palmer Heagerty, the veteran caller, says he has never encountered a similar finish . . Nick Sportiello, formerly a familiar figure at the Western Union tickers in New York press boxes, is spending a week here enjoying the sport . . Artist Alan Brewer was another on- " looker yesterday.
