Past perfomances Atlantic City Race Track - History

gunner99 · Postby **gunner99** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:33 pm

Where can I find information on past performances from September 29, 1953? We were given a collection of books and inside one of them were four pristine tickets from that date. The tickets are so sharp you can cut yourself with them and I wanted to find out what horses were in those races. Any help is appreciated.

steward · Postby **steward** » Mon Oct 27, 2008 7:11 pm

I can help. It's my hobby. Please give me the race numbers and horse numbers.

I can tell you right off the top by looking at my records that no really big names were involved, though.

gunner99 · Postby **gunner99** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:33 am

September 29, 1953

Race 4: #6

Race 4: #15

Race 1: #6

Race 2: #9

I would like to know what else was on the card for that day. I have taken some photos of the track in its present condition and would like to display these tickets with them in a wall hanging in my office. If you can provide me with the info I would really appreciate it.

steward · Postby **steward** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 2:15 pm

I'm not sure what your second entry really is (American Tote machines didn't allow a #15), but here is what I found for the other three, based on results charts:

First race, #6 horse: First Jo-Al (Ridge Stable)

Fourth race, # 6 horse: Rock Cottage (Thorncliff Farm)

Second race, #9 horse: either Lauranne (M M Schwebel)

or Swiss Night (J L McNight)

There was a scratch in the second race. Since I don't have a list of entries, it's impossible to tell exactly who #9 was. In this case, a program or photo from Atlantic City for that race is a must.

Post the correct information for the other ticket - I will respond. Also I will include some other information that you might find helpful. Good luck!

PS: the only horse which raced that day that I somewhat recognize was Blue Volt, in the feature race (6th). It was an allowance turf sprint. Blue Volt had 135 lifetime starts. Chief Fanelli in the 4th had 128. Tough critters.

gunner99 · Postby **gunner99** » Fri Oct 31, 2008 5:05 pm

Steward,

Thanks for the info. I got the info from my stepfather over the phone and I am sure that the second ticket is wrong. I am going over there tomorrow and I will look at the ticket. Where are you getting the information from? I would love to see a site where they listed them. I will post again on Sunday.

steward · Postby **steward** » Sat Nov 01, 2008 7:31 am

gunner99 wrote:Steward,

Thanks for the info. I got the info from my stepfather over the phone and I am sure that the second ticket is wrong. I am going over there tomorrow and I will look at the ticket. Where are you getting the information from? I would love to see a site where they listed them. I will post again on Sunday.

There is no website that I'm getting this from. It is from old printed records.

Lacking the program itself, the best resource for most people is to check old charts printed in the bigger newspapers of the time (NYTimes, WaPost, etc) that one can find at local libraries on microfilm. Racing pages in the 30s and 40s were very comprehensive. Caution, however, because betting ticket numbers do not necessarily correspond with post position numbers. Because of scratches, entries, and field groupings and other numbering protocols used by track and AmTote officials, there isn't a one-to-one correlation.

There is a reason that tote ticket collectors are usually just as mystified as everyone else: there isn't a published source that connects any individual ticket to the horse for which it was bet. I've done years of research and have amassed a lot of data. But it has huge gaps.

One last comment. There are millions of those old colored tickets in existence. You can get the generic ones for nickels. Yet only a few are connected to famous horses. In the 10 years that I've been on ebay, I've never seen a single ticket for Citation, Stymie, or some of the other horses from the older decades where people just didn't save souvenirs as diligently as they do now. I've got a few dozen notable tickets from the 30s and 40s (Equipoise, Bull Lea, Gallorette, Alsab, Top Row and others). But most of the tickets were those bet on claimers and non-descript critters. The avalanche of tickets saved for souvenirs' sake began with Secretariat and the other 70s megastars.

gunner99 · Postby **gunner99** » Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:49 pm

Thanks for the info. I did a scan of the tickets and will post them tomorrow for you to look at. I wasn't looking for a famous horse or anything. I don't even care about the value. I go to AC Racecourse all of the time and took some nice photographs of the old track. I want to put together the tickets and photos to hang in the office. I am a historian by nature and figured I would do a little research. I will try the library for the newspapers.

steward · Postby **steward** » Mon Nov 17, 2008 12:12 am

If you are ever to display them, have the old printed materials framed using UV glass. Keep them on walls that don't see direct sunlight. The fading is a gradual process that doesn't take all that long. My sister kept a winning ticket on Affirmed unprotected, and the printing is very faint. If any ticket/program has any value whatsoever, don't use glue or tape.