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Discuss New N. ,, Plans With Press Status of Super Race Course Outlined by President Hanes; Vanderbilt Offers Opinion By BOB HORWOOD Staff Correspondent BELMONT PARK, Elmont, N. Y„ June 2. — At a meeting held in the presidents office at Belmont Park Thursday afternoon, John W. Hanes, newly appointed president of the board of trustees of the Greater New York Association, discussed with the press the status of plans for the rehabilitation of New York racing. Hanes said that he felt certain that the plan, which calls for the construction of Americas greatest race track on either the sites of Belmont Park or Aqueduct, could not fail, but it was estimated by Alfred G. Vanderbilt, chairman of the building and operations committees formed this morning that the new track could not be in operation before the fall of 1957 or spring of 1958. It remains for these committees to determine the site of the new track and Vanderbilt pointed out that his committees could hot function realistically and specifically until financing hadbeen completed and it was known precisely how much money could be spent. Hanes, however, said he believed that details of incorporation, financing, racing commission approval and the purchase of ~stock in Jamaica, Aqueduct, Saratoga and Belmont Park could be completed within 30 or 40 days. Officials Present The afternoons session was attended by George D. Widener, Henry F. Guggenheim, Ogden Phipps and Marshall Cassidy, of the new association, as well as Hanes and Vanderbilt, and by Cyrus S. Jullien, Jamaica and Saratoga. Morris and Von Stade, said, in effect, that the stockholders of these two tracks were prepared to accept fair offers for their stock, but Jullien refused to commit himself, or his stockholders, either with regard to Aqueduct or to the substantial amount of Jamaica stock held by the Queens County Jockey Club. Hanes declared on that point" that the Jockey Club group was prepared to offer a price for the race track that was fair, but not one which would enrich the stockholders at the expense of the taxpayers, pointing out that this was now a public project. Hanes introduced the press to B. A. Tompkins, saying that he felt that The Jockey Club was extremely fortunate to have obtained a man of his stature, and one who for the past 39 years has had no other employer than the Bankers Trust Co., of which he is executive vice-president, to conduct its financial and administrative affairs. Tompkins, "he said, had the full confidence, not onlyof the financial world, but of the racing commission and the governor of New York State. . This afternoons discussion made it clear that many points needed much discussion before the new track and improvements to existing tracks could actually get under way. It developed that there is still a lack of unanimity both in The Jockey Club and on the varjous committees, but Hanes, Widener and Vanderbilt all said that they were sure that an ideal plan would be formulated and pushed through to conclusion. . The immediate steps are to incorporate, borrow and buy, all with racing commission approval, but Hanes said that these steps could be accomplished quickly. The subsequent decisions as to -he location and type of track to be built cannot be undertaken until these steps have been taken, and will require more time, but Hanes believed that it would be possible to begin actual construction either at Belmont Park or Aqueduct by late fall or early next winter.
