Gulfstream Park

Miami, No. i winter playground of the U. S., attracts 800,000 visitors each year between January and April. Last winter they poured $35,000,000 into the pari-mutuel betting machines at Greater Miami's two racetracks, Hialeah and Tropical Park.

Last week, while Hialeah was going full blast, a third track, Gulfstream Park, opened at seaside Hollywood, 15 miles north of downtown Miami. Its owner, wee-mustached, dimpled Jack Horning, 28-year-old heir to a Pittsburgh steel fortune, had never intended to own a racetrack. A contractor by trade, he had seen only three horse races in his life when he was hired by Promoter Joe Smoot last winter to build a racing plant on 190 acres of marshland.

Dapper Joe Smoot, who had built Hialeah in 1925 and started the building of California's Santa Anita six years ago, had a harder time than he expected getting his latest racetrack in operation. He had to appeal to the State Supreme Court before he could get a permit from the Florida Racing Commission, which felt it was unsound for two tracks to operate at the same time in Greater Miami. After the permit was finally granted, Promoter Smoot decided to pull out. Contractor Horning, by this time infected with Promoter Smoot's enthusiasm, took over the track. He figured there were plenty of horses (2,400) wintering in Miami; he would gamble on getting enough customers to pay to see them run.

Last week on opening day, when free tickets were broadcast, 15,000 spectators turned out. The rest of the week, while the stables were filled to capacity, a comparative handful of customers rattled around in Gulfstream's big steel grand stand. Young Jack Horning, who had sunk $1.400,000 in the venture, wondered if the racing commission's first thought had not been best. It was. After four days Gulfstream Park closed. But not for good, insisted Owner Horning.

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