All Misunderstandings on Match Cleared Up: Woodward, Leroy and Stewart Hold Discussion via Telephone, Daily Racing Form, 1955-06-17

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All Misunderstandings On Match Cleared Up Woodward, LeRoy and Stewart Hold Discussion Via Telephone By OSCAR OTIS HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., June 16. William Woodward, Jr., owner of Nashua, Mervyn LeRoy, president of Hollywood Park, and James Stewart; vice-president and general manager of this West Coast race track, held an enlightening telephone conversation late this morn- n ing and during the course of this long discussion, your correspondent learns, any misunderstandings between these gentlemen have been fully cleared up. Mervyn LeRoy will be in New York Saturday to appear on Ed Sullivans Toast of the Town telecast, on Sunday, and will personally call upon Woodward at that time. While the exact conversation is not known, we have learned that. the air has been completely cleared of any differences of tvinion as to who might have said what, etc., and while the proposed meeting between Swaps and Nashua is no closer to Continued on Page Forty-Five Misunderstandings On Match Cleared Woodward, LeRoy, Stewart Hold Long Conversation Via Phone on Swaps-Nashua Race Continued from Page One consummation than it was yesterday, at least the groundwork has been laid for any future discussions to be made directly between the interested parties, and this includes Hollywood Park as the proposed sponsor of the 00,000 match race offered here. "I did make clear to Mr. Woodward thatr the pressure of newspaper stories became so involved that it got away from us," said Stewart, "and this was unfortunate, because we acted all along in good faith. "Actually, a whole chain of events started when Sports Illustrated, a week ago, broke a story of a match race in Chicago as being definite on August 6. Naturally, there was nothing definite about the race on that specific date, and Rex Ellsworth quickly pointed out that such a date was impossible for Swaps. Open Offer Made "From then on, the talk of a match at some track, including ours, was in the open, and it was a matter of open discussion in the press. Our offer was made an open one at such a time as would be convenient for both horses. "The discussions and opinions in print then became so involved that it is not surprising that the real points tended to become obscured and a misunderstanding came about. However, as I said, any misunderstandings which may have existed before have been cleared away, and there the matter stands. "I might add that we have been going on the assumption all along, after the result of the Belmont and Californian stakes, that the public clamor for a meeting between these two horses, would be exceptionally strong. There is such a public demand in California."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1955061701/drf1955061701_1_6
Local Identifier: drf1955061701_1_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800