Reflections: Parking Areas at New York Tracks to Open; Pavot Gains Supporters by Fine Workout; Gallorette Hard One to Beat in Oaks; Elkridge Revives Interest in Chasing, Daily Racing Form, 1945-06-15

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■ REFLECTIONS * ly Nelson Dunston Parking Areas at New York Tracks to Open Pavot Gains Supporters by Fine Workout Gallorette Hard One to Beat in Oaks Elkridge Revives Interest in Chasing NEW YORK, N. Y., June 14. Whether Mayor La Guardia likes it or not, racing fans will be glad to read here that it is only a question of days when the parking areas at the New York tracks will be opened. Ashley T. Cole, chairman of the New York State Racing Commission, is working on this problem right now and the sooner he ends this silly and hypocritical practice, the better it will be for everybody concerned. By closing the race track parking areas a racket was born and it only will end when they are opened once again. At no other race track city has this practice of forcing racegoers to park outside been carried on. In the case of Belmont Park, motorists are obliged to drive to points beyond the ci£y limits to find space. Mayor La Guardia carries his one-man petty crusade against racing to the point where he blockades the surburban streets on the Queens County side of the Belmont Park property and forbids parking in them on the pretext that it creates fire hazards. This adds to the confusion and harassment of race-going motorists and is not consistent with the tacit permission given other motorists to park in streets adjacent to baseball parks, theaters and moving-picture houses in the more-congested sections of the city. Race tracks can and should remedy the situation by the simple expedient of opening their parking lots. When the New York sport moves over to Aqueduct it is hoped that the officials there will prepare for overcrowding by opening the centerfield. There is a possibility that the parking areas will be opened at that track and it would be a grand gesture on the part of the officials to also prepare seats and betting booths in the centerfield so that the public can have at least a few of the comforts that racegoers have at tracks in many other cities. The popularity of racing continues to grow and, as Aqueduct, then Empire city -at -Jamaica follow Belmont, there will be many days when the fans will be more uncomfortable by overcrowding than they were at Jamaica. A very simple remedy is to be found right in the centerfield and, instead of the "if you dont like it dont come" policy, the New York racing officials would rise in the estimation of racing followers if they made a few simple moves to end the congestion which brings about discomfort and sends the fans home tired and weary. Opening the parking areas is one move in the right direction and utilizing the centerfield would be a very good companion improvement. Hoop Jr. is certain to be the favorite in Saturdays Preakness renewal. In the past day or two, however, Pavot has gained more supporters, and his mile and three-sixteenths in 1:59*3 on Tuesday would indicate that the pressure he was under in the Withers did not take anything out of him. There is much talk around that it will develop into a two-horse race, but we are of the opinion that the manner in which Polynesian won the Withers entitles him to an outside chance against the top pair. None of this trio will have any excuse on their condition. Hoop Jr. shipped to Baltimore and came off the train in the best of shape. He will be given a breeze tomorrow and then will be rested for the big event, which promises to draw one of the largest throngs in Maryland history to Pimlico on Saturday. As these lines are written, Ivan Parke has not definitely decided who will replace Eddie Arcaro on Hoop Jr. George Woolf, who rode Pavot in the Withers, again will have the mount, and that wont hurt the Jeffords horse any. When Monsoon started in the Top Flight Handicap at Belmont Park today Gallorette* most dangerous rival for Saturdays Pimlico Oaks was eliminated. Monsoons sta-blemate. Recce, will carry the silks of Col. C. V. Whitney in the 0,000 event, which is one of the five stakes on the big Pimlico card. This writer is going to be very much surprised if any of the three-year-old fillies defeat Gallorette, W. L. Branns chestnut filly by Challenger II. — Gallette. This miss has not only held her own against colts of her division this spring, but handily defeated the Whitney pair of Monsoon and Recce in the Acorn Stakes at Belmont last week. After the Pimlico Oaks is run Gallorette will ship over to Delaware, where she will start in the 5,000 New Castle Handicap next Thursday. In this event she will meet older members of her sex. On June 28 she will start in the 0,000 Delaware Oaks, and in this race is likely to meet Good Blood, Price Level and other good members of her sex and age. Yet, we believe she will be returned the winner, and we say this knowing full well the high regard in which the Calumet forces hold Good Blood. Belmont fans were just about beginning to despair of seeing a good steeplechase event when Elkridge accounted for the Charles L. Appleton, the feature event on Tuesday. Due to alterations in the course, there is not expected to be any steeplechas-ing or hurdle racing at Aqueduct this spring. So the last chance the Belmont spectators will get of a stake event will be the Belmont Spring Maiden Steeplechase, at about two miles, which will be run tomorrow. This is the second of a series of races which are staged at Pimlico, Belmont and Delaware. The steeplechas-lng sport at Delaware will open on June 20, and on the twenty-seventh of the month they will stage the Georgetown Steeplechase Handicap, a race that has drawn the nominations of Elkridge, Rouge Dragon, Knights Quest, Iron Shot, Royal Archer, Invader and other leaders in the through-the-field sport. The 0,000 Indian River Steeplechase Handicap, at about two and a half miles, will be run on July 3 and has drawn the same group of jumpers named for the Georgetown. These two races are now the richest in the country for chasers, with the exception of the Grand National and the Temple Gwathmey, both of which are run in the fall.


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