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Officials Placed Principles First From all parts of the nation this writer is receiving reports of a spontaneous wave of approval of the action of the Hollywood Park stewards in suspending Willie Shoemaker for careless riding on the eve of the Californian, even though in so acting, it was apparent that such action might "blow up" the race of the year, i.e., a meeting at scale between Swaps and Determine, the Kentucky Derby winners of the last two years. Indeed, whether Swaps was to start or not hung in the balance for a matter of many hours, and not until late Thursday evening did Rex Ellsworth make the announcement that Swaps was a definite starter. The public reaction was a deep feeling of appreciation that the Hollywood Park stewards, even though perhaps unwittingly, placed principles first and let the chips fall where they might, even if it meant a break-up of one of the best and most exciting contests in the whole history of the West. Moreover, and at least by inference, the action of the Hollywood Park stewards in acting without fear or favor gave the direct lie, or refutation, to the mutter-ings of that segment of the people who from time to time throw barbs at the "integrity of racing" and aver, on the slightest pretext, that racing is conducted on the theory of expediency first, ethics second, if indeed ethics are allowed to enter into consideration at all. We can reveal that the possible break-up of this "race of the year" did not enter into the calculations of the stewards at all, but after the decision was announced, the favorable comments began to pour in. The only possible negative reaction we could note was a few scattered suggestions that perhaps the California rule, which prohibits a rider from filling stake engagements during a term of suspension be changed back to the old method, which permitted such stake rides.
