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Many Former Jockeys Work in Mutuel Dept. Curatol, Grill, Prehm, Drennan, Crees7 Mpberley at Hazel Park HAZEL PARK, Mich., June 4. "They used to bet on us; now they bet with us." In such words Charles Curatol, a jockey great of yesteryear summed up the situation for more than half a dozen riders currently employed in the mutuel department at Hazel Park. . Racing history is entwined in the stories to be told by former riders now selling tickets, cashing them or serving in other capacities in Hazel Parks mutuel plant. Curatol, for instance, was a top jockey for the late Harry Payne Whitney, handling the Midwest division that campaigned around Windsor and other Canadian tracks in the twenties. "Dick Westmoreland was in charge," he revealed the other day between duties at Hazel Park, "and we had such fine horses as Parader, Night Raider, Nominee, Bullet Proof and many others. It was back in 1921-1 broke my maiden on Aunt Lynn at Windsor, a 51 to 1 shot, and thats always a boys biggest thrill. After a few years weight began to take its toll, however, and I gave up the saddle for the mutuel department." Frank Grill, another ex-pilot, broke into racing in his mid teens in Texas, and for 12 years thereafter racing fans cheered him home. He still recollects, with pleasant no-talgia, the good mare Montsin who carried him to victory in many Midwest stakes. Mutuel manager Robert Leavitt, who bleieves that racing should take care of its own, has also added other jockeys to his working family William Prehm, Reuben Crees, Douglas Drennan and LeRoy Mo-berley among them all names to vibrate the chords of memory. "Most race tracks try to employ as many of the former riders as they can," Leavitt said. "Among them, theyve probably scored atop the winners of the nations top stakes. Here at Hazel Park Frank Munden is employed as a patrol judge. He broke into racing with the famous R. K. Ross Stable, and from 1929 through 1949 booted home many great ones, including Flying Heels and Springsteel. "George McMullen, Earl Steffen, Walter Warren, Anthony Accardy, Francis Mas-chek all top riders of the not-too-distant past faced the problem of weight, and rather than buck the inevitable turned to the mutuels department. They make up quite a bunch." And, Leavitt conceded as an afterthought, the "bunch," grouped together in one room, would furnish a thrilling session of reminiscing.
