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California Oscar Otis New Stake Epitomizes Pomona Progress To Create Yearling Mart in Northwest Washington Breeding Growth Outlined HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 14.— For years, this corner has been commenting upon steady growth of the fairs from "just fair racing" into a circuit which is becoming major . N * , , , . % m most every sense of the word. Comes now further proof with the word from Jack Afflerbaugh of Pomona that its featured stake of the summer, the Southern California Handicap, is being doubled in value to 0,000-added, a feature that will be supplemented by two other stakes each of 0,000-added. All wagering records were shattered at the Los Angeles Counts Fair last vear. the track just missing its first million dollar day, and the course wound up with an average play of 90,000 per day. Pomonas policy of using strong purses to attract better riders and horses has paid dividends, and now that Pomona is beginning to get some really worthwhile horses, it was felt a 0,000 purse* was quite in keeping with the new prestige the track is enjoying. Pomona is retaining its ,500 minimum purse, with the extra money earmarked for purses, for the time being, used to enrich the purses in the higher class claiming ranks and allowance division. Stockton to Build New Fair Plant The Pomona announcement is just one of many "improvement stories" that are bobbing up all over the fair circuit. A new plant is being built at Stockton, home of the San Joaquin County Fair, which we feel sure will enable this pioneer racing plant to perhaps double its attendance and play. Fresno, percentagewise, has been showing sensational gains and we look for the raisin capital of the world to become a major racing city in its own right, if only for the reason that Fresno has had to fight its way up from obscurity without benefit of "dates of its own." By this, we mean that it has usually overlapped with other meetings and therefore, its president, Tom Dodge, Jr., has had to work doubly hard to upgrade his racing presentations. Clio Hogan, editor of the "Washington Horse," tells us that the first selected sale of yearlings in the modern day history of the state will be held at Longacres on August 23, with entries for said sale closing this Wednesday tomorrow night. It is not a closed sale, and entries are being accepted from California, Oregon, and British Columbia breeders. "This might be a good opportunity for Calif ornians to sell some of their worthwhile yearlings," suggests Hogan, "although the sales committee must pass on the pedigree, and our field agent, Ed Heimeman, will judge for condition and conformation. I might add that if the Washington Horse Breeders Association is successful in getting enough entries to hold the planned sale in August, it does not mean the Washington market is lost to California or Kentucky. I believe it will have just the opposite effect. More and more of our breeders have been frequenting sales in California and Kentucky in quest of better bloodlines. "This has been a slow process, but it has been picking up steam of late. This year, for instance, we know of several Washington breeders who /will be bidding at the W. W. Naylor dispersal at Riverside on Monday, June 27. Breeders in Washington have no illusion of becoming another Kentucky or California but they fully expect to give horses from those states a run for their money one of these days. Actually, many Washington-bred horses have been, and are, racing with credit to themselves and their state in high class events at Hollywood Park, and did so last winter, too, at Santa Anita." Some 15 Sires Worthy of Merit Adds Hogan: "To outline the Washington story even in brief would require thousands of words, but it can be said that breeders here have been determined to improve their stock in the face of economic drawbacks. Without this background, the sales story loses its perspective. Ten years ago, the breeding industry was yet to be born. Today, we have at least 15 stallions with credentials worthy of merit. To mention but a few, Succession, a half brother to Your Host, who in two crops had eight winners of 4,678, and his eleven starters had average per year earnings of ,148, a good figure even nationally. Amble In, a son of Fighting Fox, and two-time winner of the Longacres Mile, has had three full books and his yearlings look extremely promising. Skelter, a half brother to Ponder, made his first season at stud last year, and in his court was Atomic Me, a daughter of Menow. and Evening News, a daughter of Eight Thirty acquired in Kentucky for 2,000. "This year, Joe Gottstein of Longacres has raised the minimum claiming price to ,200, and along with this, he is starting out the meeting with a ,000 minimum purse. There are bound to be some problems arising from this, but in the long run, I am sure it will be for the best. Indeed, I am personally hopeful that it will truly mark the beginning of the new era in Washington racing and breeding. All this in turn ties in with our sale. Two-year-olds with any pretense toward quality are becoming a valuable asset. And I want to stress again that when the board of trustees of the Washington Breeders voted for a selected sale they meant just that. They are convinced that sales containing poor quality stock mingled with good are unsuccessful, for the poor stock seems invariably to pull down the quality of the good Steele rather than, vice versa/* , „ 1
