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. , . fmT""11 -vYri Delaware ■ By Charles Hatton • Newsmen Succeed as Track Managers Bryan Field Proving His Versatility Rechristened by Times Typesetter DELAWARE PARK, Stanton, Del., June 2.— From time to time, racing associations have taken vociferous exception to the "constructive criticism" of various of . , . the the fourth fourth estate. estate. But, But, funnily funnily the the fourth fourth estate. estate. But, But, funnily funnily enough, a number of turf writers have abandoned their journalistic careers to become first rat- track managers, applying their concepts of management practically and making them stick. There is Horace Wade, whose versatility is such he can write the script for the races, with originality, spot the publicity, and arrange such colorful, rotarian extravaganzas as as the the staging staging of of the the Florida Florida fmT""11 -vYri as as the the staging staging of of the the Florida Florida Derby. There is also Pete ODonnell, a veteran Louisville sports writer who became manager of Lincoln Fields, and made the meeting click whether it was at the new Lincoln Fields per se, or guesting at Hawthorne or Washington. And here at Delaware Park there is Bryan Field, or to give him all of it, Philip Bryan Field. Perhaps the best description of Field is to say that he does everything well and several things simultaneously. He is know to millions of radio and TV listeners and viewers merely incident in his newspaper career, as a youthful reporter on the New York Times. Field was so impressed with himself and the new distinction of being "the gentleman from the Times" that when first he got a "by line" — a proud honor for all young reporters — he started his first news story with the signature Philip Bryan Field. When this got up" to the composing room, a hard-bitten printer thought that the use of three names smacked of affectation, and furthermore it was a little hard to set in what printers call one column measure. So he calmly and editorially lopped off the "Philip" and Field became re-christened, identified from then on to the readers of the Times simply as Bryan Field. Once Substituted for Late FDR Field began as a broadcaster on the same occasion that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, then Governor Roosevelt of New York, visited the Saratoga race track. Due to his handicap, the Governor was seated at a convenient table in the clubhouse section. The broadcasting point itself was in a distant grandstand tower, which held a radio engineer and the neophyte broadcaster Bryan Field. The Delaware manager was merely supposed to fill a few minutes of the 30 allotted for the occasion. But the long cable connecting the Governors table and the broadcasting point passed through the swinging doors of the track kitchen, and it was cut by the friction of the door hinge going back and forth. The result was that Roosevelt never got on the air, and Field perforce had to fill the 30 minutes with ad-libbing much of the history of Saratoga, items about the people at the upstate New York spa, as well as the race itself. Later, apologies went forth to Governor Roosevelt, who was not quite heard on the air as planned. A job offer went to Field to finish the season. That job of broadcaster and telecaster has been going on ever since. In his ubiquitous business of doing several things at once years back, Field wrote his stint for the Times, handled the loud speaker at the "Met" tracks, and at the same time was heard in his very dictional voice over networks from coast to coast. Each of these tasks he encompassed sufficiently well so that his stories for the paper still are remembered, and his feat of being the first person to call all of the horses in a race broadcast has been copied but never quite surpassed. In 55, Fields name adorns a door here as vice-president and general manager of Delaware Park, one of the most prominent and exemplary race courses in America. Doing several things at once seem to just come naturally to this transplanted New Yorker. They involve his being a director of the track, of the Red Cross, of the United Community Fund, the Delaware Safety Council, the Kingswood Community Center, and vice-president and director t f the Delaware Foundation for Physical Education. Recently, he was presented the citation of merit by the Jewish War Veterans of the U. S., for outstanding services to the Wilmington community and the nation. Born in New York City, on the site of the old Morris Park, Field attended Dewitt Clinton High School and N.Y.U. It was while he was enrolled in the latter institution he became a correspondent for the Times. He also was sports publicity director for the university, and publicity aide to the late William Woodward, for years head of The Jockey Club. More recently he has served as first chairman of the TRAs public relations committee, and during the Korean War he served as chairman of the Delaware Red Cross blood donor campaign. Jones Inspects Tom Fool Filly Turf ana: Pat Kelly, of Crown Crest, is Delaware Park visitor. . . . Warner L. Jones, Jr., went to his Hermitage Farm, Goshen, Ky., for a few days to inspect a filly foal by Tom Fool. Jones was among those who stayed in the lists when Tom Fools subscribers were advised it was touch-and-go if he would be in service last spring. . . . Actually, Nashuas manner of winning the Preakness was rather detached, for all the sizzling time, though it appears to have looked desperate on TV. . . . We are not acquainted with jockey Bobby Martin, but think the authorities should have a dossier - substantiating their suspicions of his transgressions, rather than just "warning him off." . . . Obviously, the high tariff on New York play is making incursions on the "tote" action. . . . The Suburban was the first race owner Helis saw Helioscope run. Jock Barshack has evolved the idea he should tackle Swaps, if the latter chooses, on the West Coast, then appear for the Michigan Mile.
