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California By Oscar Otis Lush Hollywood Season Under Way Many Oportunities for Juveniles Swaps-Bobby Brocato Rivalry Likely HOLLYWOOD PARK, Inglewood, Calif., May 10. — Hollywood Park, a track which styles itself as one of "lakes and flowers," opens Friday afternoon for a summer spin of 55 days, which promises to produce some of the most interesting stake racing in America, as well as probably without question the richest. The meeting also should provide a wonderful proving, area for the western crop of two-year-olds. And by western crop, we mean those homegrown as well as those purchased by western owners at Keeneland, or acquired privately from Blue Grass breeders, plus about two dozen from Ireland and England, many of the latter having been bred by the Aga Khan. Hollywood Park has one great advantage in that the weather is always nice and clear most of the time once in a while a morning high overcast will not burn out by first post time, and the track always will be fast. It has been known to shower during the Hollywood Park season, but on an average about once every five years. The season, coupled with that at Del Mar, which immediately follows the Hollywood meeting: to make for an Integrated program of opportunity for the two -year-olds, promises to be decisive in the lives of many potential Derby pros-. pects of next year and handicap division horses of the year after. While the minimum purse at Hollywood is ,000, all maiden two-year-old races will have a value of at least §5,000. And there are eight stakes for this class on the roster, three of them being for §15,000, two each at §20,000, two others at §25,000, plus the big one, the Starlet, to be run July 19 with §75,000 added. The latter has been elevated to this value only this summer and the purse of which sets a new added money mark for a two-year-old stake in the Far West. At Santa Anita, youngsters went but three furlongs and few considered the outcome of those sprints as nothing more than an indication of things which might develop, except maybe to prove that some colts, as always, were quick in coming around. Barry Whitehead, racing secretary at the Tanforan meeting which overlaps the Hollywood inaugural by two days, has strengthened his juvenile program in the North with exceptionally good public response. The form established by many two-year-olds at Tanforan will help make for better juvenile racing here at Hollywood. While Hollywood has attained a reasonable balance in its over-all stakes program, it is our personal belief that a great deal of the tracks future destiny lies in further development of its two-year-old stakes program. We say this because it is becoming self-evident that California is becoming an independent empire in racing. It has a year round program of racing, and is the only major producing state which has full scalet racing opportunities as well. Kentucky, for instance, has only seasonal sport, while New York is not a serious factor in production. For a clarification of what we mean, if you look back in the records you will find that a colt called Swaps first gained recognition by winning the June Juvenile Stakes here at Hollywood, went on to greatness at three not only to win the Kentucky Derby but to come back to Hollywood and set a new world record in the allowance Californian, and is now back on the grounds "staked" for most everything including this same Californian in which he must tote 127 pounds and the Gold Cup. Swaps is a classic example of the merit of California making it possible for a horse to develop properly in the state through the carding of a sensible two-year-old stakes program. It is fortunate, too, that Hollywood Park will have, or should have a rivalry that is a "natural" during its meeting, and that is a return series of engagements with Bobby Brocato, whose exploits since January 1 both at Santa Anita and Tanforan have verged on the sensational. The Bobby Brocato connections do not fear Swaps, al- though they respect him, and it could work out that the question of supremacy would not be settled until the closing day stakes, the 00,000 added Sunset Handicap at a mile and five furlongs. Public accommodations at Hollywood have been substantially, improved since last year, with two major propects completed. One has been the extension of the clubhouse upper deck, making it possible for about 2,000 more people to gain seats which have good viewing sites. The other is the addition of more escalators so that club patrons do not have to walk up steps to the first deck. As for the grandstand — nobody has had to walk up there for years if he wanted to take an elevator — although many do not use these facilities. Last year, for the fourth time in the last five years, Hollywood led the nation in total attendance for a single season and in daily average attendance. The latter figure last season was 28,734. No one would be surprised if it topped 30,000 this summer. While the Hollywood racing strip is rated as about the third fastest in the nation, there have been no complaints from anyone that the track is unsafe. The proof lies in a demonstration that anyone can make for himself— turn your back when a field of horses comes down the stretch — and you wont be able to hear any clatter of hoofs. Hollywood, like some other western courses, has discovered the way to have both speed and safety, and it is no accident, in our opinion, that the trend in the East is toward the faster track as against the deep cushion because a pasteboard surface, other things being equal, is kinder to a horse with a suspicion of leg, knee, or ankle troubles. It is distasteful only to an occasional horse with shelly feet. This type, as often as not, finds the footing will sting him and he will not sustain his best effort over any great distance of ground. But the pasteboard of the Hollywood type is to the best interests of the overwhelming majority of horses in training.
