Ear on Chicago; I've Got the Horse Right Here: Arlington Park

Thank you very much for your time, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you, thank you very much, thank you, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you time at a racetrack is not confined to the stopwatch on the thoroughbreds right now the thoroughbreds are racing and just crossing the finishing line the average mile is run in a little over 90 seconds but the

hours before and after the bugle blows are what makes a massive 500 acre plant like Arlington Park really click it takes an army of over 1 ,500 track personnel to do it the spectacle of the afternoon racing is only the finished product but we must get to our story in an order to tell it we have to go back in time a little bit those hoofbeats you heard were the hoofbeats of some of the horses who are working out here it's five o 'clock in the morning or five thirty in the morning here at Arlington Park and this is the almost the beginning of the dawn patrol that we were talking about just a moment ago our guide on the tour of Arlington Park is going to be Harry Sheer who is the public relations director for Arlington Park and for Washington Park now Harry we just witnessed some horses running up and down the track here and a little while ago a group of horses went by us with red -shirted riders going back to the stable

tell us what's going on here well the red -shirted riders you saw here were the famous Calumet farm colors devil red and blue and they're probably the most famous of all racing colors in the United States trainer Jimmy Jones whom you will speak with in a few moments we'll go over to the barn area after he gets through working these horses has about three sets of horses they call them sets he takes one out at approximately five thirty another at seven thirty and another about nine and they have about fifty horses here and they work almost all of them every day the activity that you see here today although it's relatively quiet now in a few minutes there'll be a hustle and bustle there'll be approximately two three hundred horses working on the track this morning not only here but over there in the far in the west there looking over there you see the training track where we have two separate tracks entirely

in fact Arlington has four tracks on the grounds we have five hundred acres here we have our main dirt course we have a grass course on the infield of a mile we have our training track and inside the training track is another three quarter mile training course for turf on the turf now Harry I think to do in order to do our show in sequence the next thing we ought to do is go over to the stable and talk to Jimmy Jones about the activity that he was engaged in out here on the track and then again back at the stable this morning fine that's how you're hearing is a stable hand breaking up around the stables of Caldum at farm it's a familiar sound around here because they do it constantly and Harry's share was telling us that this is probably the cleanest stable in the country Jimmy Jones is standing right next to me one of the most famous trainers in the country Jimmy we were talking a little while ago about working out the horses it's mighty early in the morning and

it's a long time before the first race how early do you fellas get up in the morning well you we started out somewhere in the neighborhood of course they're fed about three thirty four o 'clock in the morning and the horses are so to give the chance to do little digestive work before they come time for their work then about five thirty we started in getting them ready settled up and shortly after that we're hitting the track what about Fabius how would you compare Fabius to some of your older great horses you mean three -year -old greats of other other other days well I wouldn't think he couldn't compare my opinion with horses like citation cold town and horses like caliber who wouldn't compare at all these different sort of horse citation of course to me is the greatest horse that they ever walked and I'm sure that most trainers that have most trainers that have seen him when most of them will agree to that he's no doubt the best of modern times Jimmy Mr. Linheimer and most of the people up here in the Chicago area

seem to think that the Chicago has about as good as racing as anywhere in the United States if not in the entire world and what do you think about that well not about this is very high -class racing here in Chicago right it has been for years Mr. Linheimer has been to me he's been sort of the savior first -class racing in the middle west I think that he's been a wonderful job and Chicago should appreciate the type of racing that he's presented here they the rounds the the whole thing is first -class strictly first -class Jimmy while we're talking here one of the things that I noticed the horses are being walked around the stable right in front of where the fellow was cleaning up what are you doing there well that's he was a cooling out process that we go through after we they go through the training on the track then they they are naturally their bodies are heated up and then we start in walking them well what's that up there I hear somebody calling somebody and a loudspeaker seems to be somebody has a long distance telephone call

on any how you this is a cooling out process that we go through as I said they're warmed up and then we bring them back to the barn give them a little bath and and goes through approximately 30 minutes to 40 minutes of walking with a little sip of water now and then sort of gradually water them off they've got hot and they're thirsty and you give it to them all at one time and you're going to get in trouble what we call founder or various stages of cool out too fast are we walk them around here and and gradually cool them out and they go out and have their little grass and they're ready to be put away and rubbed out and put away for the day then their legs and things I got two children I don't think I treat them as well as you do your horses well I never got this good treatment when I was a kid I had to do my own cooling out give me one I thank you very much for talking to us and a lot of luck with all of your work thank you it was nice to have you here I'm going to take you around I'll show you Fabius I'm certainly looking forward to that we've come to the office now

of Dave Stevens who's the mutual manager at Arlington Park and he's the man that handles all the betting that is he doesn't take the actual bets but he oversees all the boys that do and also the boys that pay out now Dave first of all tell us how a bet is made and and something about the betting in from inside the windows well from inside the windows the customer naturally comes up to buy a ticket in any denomination $2 $5 $10 $5100 $6 combines and 15 combines at this track and they ask for the number of the horse and the seller immediately punches a ticket out of the tote machine well what determines the odds then the amount bet on each horse the amount bet on each horse is a total pool air and then the amount bet on each horse and this automatic odds computer goes through the motion of giving you the approximate odds of each horse with the 14 %

taken out I see when the 14 % part of it goes to the track and part of it goes to the state that's right here the state gets 6 % then the track gets 8 % but in other words then when people bet they're not betting against the track at all no they track just you might say maybe an agent or a holder of the money they're just holding it for the time being just look out the five bet herb grace and five dollars and Lenny Schlosser would hold the money he'd be acting in the same position as the track that's right and at the end of the betting of course we take the not the necessary commission and then the people get back 86 cents on the on the dollar now there's a lot of misunderstanding as to the prices paid we have had a lot of people come up and want to know how this horse paid this much and why this horse didn't pay so much and so on so forth but they don't realize that

the public makes the price in other words there's so many people bet on one horse there's so many people bet on another horse and when they all come in and the prices are figured why if there's a favorite then the most people out there bet on this horse to win naturally he's going to pay the shorter price then we have a lot of arguments sometimes when we have a horse that pays we'll say $4 .40 to win the horse that ran second on the odds board will say it was 30 to 1 and the only pays about six dollars to place well people can't understand that neither could I well in other words the most money was bet on the horse at one and in the place pool naturally the horse at one the short price horse there was a lot of money bet on him to place oh I see then the win pool doesn't have doesn't determine the place money oh no and so there's so much money left in the place pool and when you take the money that was bet on the

favorite the money was bet on the long shot there isn't too much left you understand to give back to the public because of the fact that there was most of the money was bet on the favorite in the place pool so for one of a horse that placed it was a 30 to 1 shot to win he might be only say six to five or seven to five to place but it all depends on how much was bet on him to place two you see of course that's still a separate pool well now one final question Dave and this will probably sound stupid to people who have come out to the track and bet but how do they go up and collect their winnings well the result is posted of course on the the infield board and then the prices are out there and when the race becomes officially naturally go round to the window of the denomination of the ticket that they have bought and they're paid by the cash year and all he does is go up and present his ticket and get his money that's right you bet your money and you choose your horse and if you win you go collect that's right what do you do if you lose well you just try to pick another one thanks a minion day there's one incident that happened yesterday I like to call I like to say something

about we had a race here yesterday there was an entry a three horse entry in the race and which of course the barge town was the favorite I might rather he won it well at one of our uh hundred dollar windows we had a little old gent come up who apparently looked like he's around 75 or 80 years old on our program the entry was number one one B and one C you see but barge town happened to be one C so this old gent said to the seller I want a hundred dollars to show on one C so the seller said well that's number one he says I don't want number one I want one C well I heard the argument of course and I wanted to explain to this old gentleman I said now if one C wins if one B wins or if one wins you still win I still want one C I said all right this is one C and it was a number one take it of course and that's the only way we could get rid of him that's an interesting experience and

thank you very much David talking you're welcome we've come now to the recreation room of the jockeys which is just off their dressing room a couple of feet over here to our right is a pool table you can probably hear the click of the pool balls far over to the other side is a ping pong table and a shuffle board four jockeys are sitting over there playing cards it's a rest period right now for the jockeys and they're just taking it easy it won't be too long before they'll be doing plenty of work believe me standing right next to me is one of the great jockeys of the country Bobby Baird right now he's the third highest ranking jockey in the United States Bobby tell us a little bit of something of what you felt as do in your off hours we know what you do when you're working but right now for example a few of the boys are playing cards what do you just sit around and chew the fat for a while that's about it you what time do you normally come down here to the to the race track in the morning well in the morning we get up five fifteen and go out and get on a

couple of horses maybe and stall around and and visit with some of the trainers discuss the horses we rode yesterday and the horses we'll ride today Jimmy Jones says once in a while it's kind of tough to get you boys up in the morning oh occasionally yes because we have we have a real day from five fifteen we go until after the races yeah have a busy day now Bobby after you work the horses out in the morning you come in here and you get what do you get a rub down or a steam bath or something like that no we get through around nine o 'clock we'll go back to where we stand either motel or hotel or some of us homes and we'll stay in about eleven fifteen and get to the track around twelve then get dressed and maybe we'll get her up down before we get dressed and get prepared for the first race to start now Bobby let me ask you a little bit about the qualifications for a jockey I think the best way to tell it probably is to ask you how you got into

the business being small is the big thing and well having a horsemanship because I was raised on a ranch and that's why I knew something about horses when I come on the racetrack and but a lot of the boys come right from the streets and they're small and they got to come on when they're about sixteen years old I think and while this work up how old are you now Bobby thirty five how long have you been racing says I've been on the racetrack since 1936 Bobby what are some of the great horses that you've been on well I've been on a few good horses and I rode the Starry Ward when the Equal Forest mild be cold time on him and a classic I went once with Papa Red Bird and Black Douglas I don't the coast I really like him he got his leg broke well I they're not wasn't great horses but they were good horses what do you consider the greatest horse you ever saw

well citation are swaps either way Bobby we want to thank you very much for talking to us it's been very interesting learning about the life of a jockey and we want to wish you the best of luck thank you we've come out now to the grandstand and we're going to talk to Harry Sheer just a minute about a little more of the operation of Arlington Park racetrack now Harry will tell you that this is a city within a city but Harry before we go into some of the background and and some of the information concerning what's going on inside let me say that this is one of the most beautiful racetracks I think I've ever seen I would imagine that the people who come out here come out only when the crowd is gathered but early in the morning like it is now to look out over this infield and out over the tote board and under the track it's a magnificent sight indeed isn't it yes it is a hue and in fact a person that comes to Arlington Park for the first time it's almost automatic they say the same thing

it's just it's not exactly all inspiring because that's more momentous but it does have a natural beauty it has a spread over 500 acres that I don't think you will find it any other racetrack in the United States well setting here this morning Harry looking out in front of us over to the right is a huge bed of flowers and then directly in front of us which is right in front of the tote board on the other side of the track is another well there three or four beds of flowers and way out to the left some more flowers red and white and then a little lake did you manufacture that lake well that was that was dug out of there to create two things one to act as a drainage for the track in fact there are miles and miles of drainage pipe underneath this track which gives this surface a tremendous scientific aspect you you wouldn't believe in the number of man hours put in to manicuring this racetrack the main strip in the grass course I would say from 14 to 15

,000 man hours are put in during a racing season just keeping these tracks safe and in perfect condition now you take that lake you'll notice that there are two of them separated by an island and now in there we have 400 white pecan ducks which we which patrol through the through the lake all day long creating patterns and it keeps people interested and curious about it we rent those from a duck farm it certainly adds to the beauty and the charm of Arlington race track the one of the little thing I'd like to mention would you like to make a guess on how many flowers are planted out there Harry I wouldn't even begin to guess including all of those flower beds out there there must be a tremendous number yes there is and your your gardening fans will be interested to know that there are 60 ,000 plants out there petunias and oh I can't remember the names of them but it it's a tremendous landscaping problem and as you said we have a city within the city here we have our own landscaping

crews we have our own police department we have our own fire department we have our own water our own power stations and it's operated just like a little city after all there are about 1500 people that live here on the grounds throughout the racing season tell us a little bit of something about how you handle the food situation here you have a number of restaurants I know yes we have a total of four dining rooms all air conditioned we have one in the clubhouse one in the grandstand we have two in the post and paddock club that's four and then we have our own stable kitchen for the stable health so that's five five dining rooms and four kitchens I would say that they feed on a day they feed close to 15 ,000 people you believe it or not I understand just inside of this doorway that we came up is a milkshake machine yes we're very proud Mr. Lynn Heimer is just goes way back to his own boyhood he saw his

first American Derby at the old Washington Park when it was on on the south side of Chicago which was in the outskirts of Chicago 1906 1904 and he was just a boy and his father took him there and he never forgot the color and the excitement of it and he made a mental note that if the ever became a attach to a racetrack then one of the first things he was going to do was to make it as dignified and as clean and as comfortable as possible so they a mother and a father could bring their children to a racetrack and be proud of it and that's exactly the way Arlington Park and Washington Park have turned out and that goes back to his own youth well that milkshake machine is one indication of all that it's probably the only tracks in the country where you can buy a chocolate soda in a milkshake i'll say that hurry at this very moment there's a machine out there on the track rolling it down well that's that's one of our many pieces of equipment we have oh i would say 40 50 different types of equipment that's one of the things that help

manicure the track yes it uh we were just the suggestion was made that it's just like he's rolling a carpet out there that's right we uh i remember several years ago some trainer came in from New York if we can get that jet passes there they go uh trainer came in here from New York one year and uh he noticed that himself and he says he says you don't only roll out the carpet for the boys in the stabular in the stands he says but you the nicest and safest track i have ever seen and that's exactly what it is you uh we roll out the carpet for both the horseman and the fan while we're here harry i want to mention this somewhere in the program we might as well do it right now way over to the far end of the track is the starting gate tell us a little bit about that will you? well we have we have uh what we call two shoots on our main track that one way way over there is the seven furlong shoot

now if you'll notice to the right and deep over there into the west there's another shoot now that's the mile shoot that's the famous Equipoy's course that's where the classic started uh two Saturdays ago uh and that is a mile they start there they go down the back stretch make only one turn and come down the home stretch to the finish line that's a mile the track itself from finish to finish is a mile and one -eighth the grass course on the inside is a mile so we can run any kind of race here from five furlongs to two two and a half miles by the way that grass track is a very interesting thing here at Arlington Park there aren't too many grass tracks in the country are there harry? well there are now mr. Linheimer is uh noted as the pioneer a the man who gave grass racing the impetus in america uh he had grass racing at Arlington Park in Washington Park as long ago as 15 years 1935 1940

uh when everybody else thought that it was just uh oh just a a whim but it's now developed into probably the most colorful phase of American Thoroughbred racing to the point where almost every major track is now building a grass course i see well now harry i think it's time that we ought to talk to the man himself mr. Linheimer we are not on the office of mr. Benjamin F. Linheimer executive director of Arlington Park and Washington Park mr. Linheimer i wonder if we could have a few closing remarks from you here at the conclusion of our program thank you i'm glad to the officers and directors of both Arlington Park and Washington Park have attempted to follow the simple policy of business success it is being used by other leading industries today i believe that uh we are dealing with a much more enlightened public with the expansion and development of radio and the press the public has become more interested in the field of sports

and at the same time much more critical we apply modern merchandising methods primarily designed to give our patrons more comfort and more convenience such as the installation of a comprehensive escalator system air conditioning and easy access to all areas within our plants as a result we have improved the acceptance of racing and also our relations with the public we have also attempted to follow this same pattern in dealing with the horsemen and their thoroughbreds as well as those who are a part of our racing operation another simple formula that we try to apply is that and that i think fits our operation is that we give the

public the best racing possible under the best conditions with the integrity of racing as one of our greatest objectives i believe that today that chicago is nationally recognized as the summer racing center of america thanks very much for this opportunity to talk to you thank you very much mr. Lynn heimer and it's been a pleasure to tour your arlington park we want to thank you and your assistance for all the help that you've shown us and that's the story of the preparations for the great day of racing at arlington park and when the fans of racing come out to arlington park they hear the familiar cry of harry henson the field announcer and there they go hi billy is going to the front my graphiella is second on the inside john's mabel is third between horses which english is fourth tummy v fifth dandy wag six tamasanese the seventh is seventh judge georgie is eighth lucky

p9th broose is tenth namizia eleventh and late return trails going into the far turn it's mac graphiella in front on the inside by three quarters of a length high billy is second by one length john's mabel is third by ahead moving up on the inside and lucky pt turning for home it's high billy on the outside by ahead mac graphiella is second by two lengths which english is third by two and a half lengths john's mabel is fourth by an echand tamasanese the second turning into the stretch it's mac graphiella on the inside by ahead high billy is second by one length which english is third crossing strongly on the extreme outside and lucky pt now it's which english in front on the outside drawing out by an ech mac graphiella is second by ahead high billy is third and lucky pt which english in front and which english is the one or by three quarters of a length mac graphiella was second by one length with lucky pt and high billy in a photo

for third this has been the story of arlington park and how the track prepares for a day of racing this is Hugh hill speaking