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BETWEEN RACES byoxarotis HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 17. — On Saturday, an historic event in the annals of American racing will transpire with the inaugural day of the summer season of racing at La Mesa Park, Raton, New Mexico. It is historic because La Mesa is the first so-called "cactus track" to apply for membership in the TRA, the first to be admitted, and TRA racing will come to New Mexico with the eyes of the nation, so to speak, centered upon the thinking of La Mesa leaders, who feel that though their track is isolated, and racing conducted upon week ends only, there is no reason that the racing cannot be up to TRA standards, as wellas the complete operation of the race track. In recognition of the La Mesa, attitude and progressive-ness, John A. Morris of New York, president of TRA, will attend the opening and will be the guest at a formal, dinner tendered by president Howard Lackey and to which turf leaders of the vast Rocky Mountain empire have been invited. AAA La Mesas application for TRA membership came about in an unusual way. The track has long followed a policy of plowing back a lions share of the profits into physical improvements for the plant, to make it more comfortable and convenient for the patron. But the leaders in the track, who are also the leaders in the business and civic life of northeastern New Mexico, conceived the idea that physical progress, desirable as it was, would not be worthwhile unless what, for lack of a better term, we will call moral progress, went with it. So, instead of spending all funds earmarked for building, a portion was set aside to pay for TRA membership. Historic Inaugural on Tap in New Mexico Ratons La Mesa Park Opens as TRA Track Civic Leaders Guide Policies, Operations Marginal Friday Sport Raced for Horsemen It came as no surprise to this writer, who was an interested visitor at La Mesa Park last summer, that "the TRA accepted the application with promptness. A check of the ownership and direction of. the track revealed to the TRA directors that while the track had many small shareholders -who had originally invested their money because of a sense of accomplishing something for Raton, and who never expected to get their money back, the tracks real leadership, backed by the solid enthusiasm of the small stockholders, lie in the hands of Ed T. Springer, the grand old man of New Mexico racing and breeding, who lives in Cimmaron, plus Howard Lackey, a Raton automobile dealer, and Arthur Johnson, a Raton bank executive. La Mesas first year under TRA sees a substantial increase in purses, the minimum purse being 50 plus five per cent of the pari-mutuel handle. This method of computation, the percentage part being mandatory under New Mexico racing law, will see an average purse of more than 00. deeding new officials, La Mesa contacted Marshall Cassidy of The Jockey Club, and while Cassidy was unable to supply a man on such short notice, a Jockey Club member, Carleton Burke, suggested Harold Morrison, an experienced all-round official, but best known in the West as a starter. Morrison has been on the staff of Hollywood Park this summer, was granted a leave of absence to accept the La Mesa post. AAA Lee McMurty of Amarillo, Texas, has been named associate steward and clerk of scales. McMurty recently retired from the construction business, is a man of wealth and consequence and has a thorough working knowledge of horse racing, both as an owner and as an official at race meetings conducted in West Texas and western Oklahoma. He knows fundamental racing. As for horses, La Mesa Park doesnt know where to put all those which applied for stall space, with the happy result that the track was in a position to cull its stable roster, a definite step in the upgrading of the quality of competition. Although in the heart of the quarter horse country, La Mesa has banked its public appeal almost exclusively upon the thorouhgbred, and this type racing predominates. Minimum claiming price has been established at ,000. And horses over 12, and maidens over six, are not allowed to race nor are they given stable room. The big races of the season are the Raton -Futurity, which will have its eighth running this summer; the Raton Derby, which carries a purse of ,000, plus five per cent of the play, and which has seen a gross purse of as much as ,440, and the Kearny Entrada, the highlight of a two-day celebration in Raton. In case the historical significance escapes you, General Stephen D. Kearny, who had won fame and glory in. the War of 1812, was appointed a lieutenant colonel and commander of the First U. S. Dragoons in 1838. In 1846, he was commissioned as a brigadier general in charge of the Army of the West and, made the conquest for the United States of the areathat is now New Mexico. AAA La Mesa is one of the few tracks in America willing to operate certain days at a loss, or at best, without profit, because of a sense of obligation to horsemen. Normal race days at La Mesa are Saturday, Sunday and any holiday, but during the month of August, there will be Continued on Page Forty-Three BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Fifty-Two racing every Friday as well. To date, the Fridays raced on experimental basis, have not been profitable, but management feels that even if conducted at a loss, and certainly with no hope of profit, the Fridays are worthwhile. because the extra day of racing cleans up the "star" list and makes Raton a more attractive seasonal spot for the better stables. Because La Mesa Park is now rated as the third "industry" in Raton, a smallish town of about 9,000, but which sees as many as 5,000 or more at the races of a week end, the Friday racing has-been of great benefit to the community. AAA Because La Mesa Park is located in a town of 9,000, it has provided an ideal case for the observation, study and conclusion regarding the merits of the economic life of an area, and the results would be worth, we feel, a full scale report to the nation La Mesa draws the bulk of its crowds week ends from distances of more than 200 miles. Most every business leader in town drops by the office of general manager Wood Erwin one or more times during the course of the meeting to suggest improvements. Management gratefully accepts this outside appraisal, and many such suggestions have been adopted. La Mesa also has developed some exceptionally good public relations tactics for people in far away places, such as Amarillo, Texas 225 miles and even went to the point of emulating some major tracks by producing a film entitled, "A Day at La Mesa Park," and which has been shown at such far away places at Dalhart and Shamrock, in Texas; Enid, Laverne andGuymon, in Oklahoma; Taos, New Mexico, and Liberal, Kansas. Raton businessmen donated their time to accompany the film and make short explanatory talks after the screenings. As for TRA, we think recognition of small but worthy tracks like La Mesa Park will go a long way toward making that organization a truly national and all-embracive one and which will bring to its deliberations aent policies the thinking and worthwhile ideas of the sagebrush. As we say, we feel the opening Saturday of La Mesa Park is a truly historic occasion.
