Money to Burn

Any horse player knows what to do when he gets his hands on a race track's cash. Take the money and run. When New Jersey's Garden State Park caught fire in the middle of a racing afternoon, the running reached unprecedented proportions. Parimutuel clerks stuffed paper sacks, attache cases, tote bags and pockets with more than $400,000 and headed for safety--and home.

With no way to account for the money, track officials were not optimistic about how much of it they would ever see again. But now they know they can bet on their cashiers. By late last week $400,000 had been carefully returned. Summed up Mutuel Director Warren Weiss, "It was fantastic." That left only some bettors burned up. Many a winning ticket on Garden State's sixth--and last--race that day (favored Dutch Roster paid $3.20) was lost in the stampede.

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