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On the Trot F I By MORRIE KUBLANSKT 1 Pennino Veteran Paddock Judge Tireless Man Has Many Friends On the Scene By Day and Night MAYWOOD PARK, Maywood, 111., May 11. — One of the most important positions on a night harness track, though it might not be generally recog- t nized. is the one of the j* paddock judge. At Chi- *i cago - area harness . " j Im*. tracks for the past six jkSlS* years a friendly, soft- : "IIixCJmP spoken man in his MB fifties has done an ex- WT°* HH tremely fine job in that Wm capacity, and there is /jjpl K| hardly a man more jttm m * fl popular with fellow of- W W jfl ficials and horsemen j V A J than hard-working, ef- *-— ■«-• BsBm ficient Frank Pennino. A native of New Orleans, where he still spends every winter serving at Fair Grounds running horse meeting, Frank is the scion of an Italian family that not only is-one of the largest with five generation still living but one. of the oldest in the southern metropole. Born and raised near the Fair Grounds, V Pennino gravitated early in his life to the race track and as a young man was connected with a number of prominent thoroughbred racing stables. During one of his frequent trips to Chicago some 30 , years back Frank met his wife and set-tied down in Cicero close to Hawthorne _ and Sportsmans Park, where he still 1 | ■ lives. P p A good friend of the late Joe Harbutt. track superintendent at Maywood Park until his death a year ago, Pennino became associated with harness racing in 1946 when he worked here as assistant starter under Chuck Phillips. After serving in that capacity for several seasons. Frank, whose eagerness and ability soon caught the eye of management, was promted to patrol judge. When in 1951 the position of -paddock judge was open, he was offered " that vital position and he has held it ever ■ since. j Some people might think that there wouldnt be much to a job like this. Just three hours of racing at night and all day free. Nothing could be further from the truth. Franks normal working day is seldom less than 12 hours. Getting to the track early in the morning Frank has to gd through his extensive file to full out the cards for each starter on that particular night, usually anywhere from 64 to 75 horses. This done, he has to see that every start- " er, and they are, of course, distributed all over the local barn area as well as the " auxiliary tracks at Elgin and formerly Aurora, will be furnished head numbers, f saddle numbers for the warm-up miles and t saddle pads for the race proper. Then as a t normal procedure he has to process anywhere from half a dozen to 20 requests for changes in equipments for horses that are in to race on the following nights. All these equipment changes have to be approved by the stewards and Frank therefore fills out a special form on which the requested change is indicated. This done, its usually about 1 p.m. and Pennino will go home for lunch and a short rest. Hell be back at the track by 6 p.m. to prepare the paddock for the nights races. All horses starting in the first two races have to be in the paddock by 7:30 p.m. As each horse enters the enclosure, and as you know there are two different kinds of harness horses, trotters and pacers, Frank and his assistant check every piece of equipment worn. F t There are about 40 to 50 different items t a trotter or pacer might wear. In case of a i it horse that has started here before he 1 checks the equipment of the horse against 1 his file card but in the case of pacers he i if has to measure the lengths of the hobbles, j e.g. the leather straps encircling the front and hind legs on the same side to keep those legs moving in unison and to help the horse maintain its gait. If there is one piece of equipment or some other item not mentioned on his card added, Pennino will immediately inform the stewards of the discrepancy and the judges in turn might authorize the change or order the trainer to have the horse rigged up the way he started in his last race. In case of a horse that starts here for the first time, Frank marks down every piece of equipment worn by the horse. For instance, a pacer might come in with a blind bridle, a head pole on the right c side, a crab bit, head halter, stand halter, t martingale, bandages all round, knee boots, i toe weights, bell boots, tendon boots, gait- c ing strap while his hobble length is 54 i inches. If the trainer of this horse for one I | £ reason or another decides the change, add 1 or leave off some of this equipment hell I f t t F t t i it 1 1 i if j c t i c i I | £ 1 I 3 Tenn. Commander H. Ballard 4-1 fore the horses next start. Although he has to ask permission if he wants to change -the length of the hobbles. Some of these requests might read like this: Trainer Jim Maupin wants to add running horse blinkers, change from a Hutton to a crab bit for the horse Merry Raider, which he has worked officially with the new set-up in 2:12 a mile. Wilbur Long asks permission to shorten the hobbles of Bay Havens one hole, which is about half an inch. Stan Stucker wants 1 to take off the head pole and gaiting j strap on the right side of the horse Ken Abbe. Joe Lighthill wishes to add a shadow roll and a gaiting strap on the left side of the horse Miss Leora. Bruce Nickells wants to race Miss Braden Volo, formerly free-legged, with hobbles. Equipped with photographic memory i Pennino doesnt take long in checking all « the different boots, poles, straps, etc. worn by a horse but he nevertheless has to check every time a horse comes to the paddock. The measuring of the hobbles is an absolute "must" as no one could possibly tell they have been shortened or lengthened just by looking at them. . j Frank keeps a record of horses equipment for at least two years and trainers are grateful for this. It will happen every so often that, for instance, Harry Bur-right might ask Frank what Grand Wisconsins hobble length was in 1955 when that pacer won several races within a short period. Russell Britenfield, to use another example, might ask Frank how j the pacer Dr. Pence was equipped last year. Another trainer who recently bought a horse asked Frank all particulars about that trotters racing paraphernalia as he didnt seem to race too well ] with his present equipment. | t Pennino, too, might notice that the tires 1 on some sulky are not sufficiently inflated, I that some strap is loose, or some bandages 1 not rolled properly and in this way help a 1 careless groom or prevent accidents in a i race. Not that he would give unsolicited t advice to a trainer how to rigg up a certain 1 horse but when asked for his opinion Frank ] Pennino has done many a crainer a good i
