After two years of famine, Florida was all set for the biggest horse racing jamboree in its history. Tents had to be pitched to stable the overflow of horses; enough jockeys were on hand to stock two race tracks; the tourist stampede had begun. The picture looked beautiful.
With no wartime blackouts to worry about, hard-luck Gulfstream Park (plagued for five years by bankruptcy and anti-racing bans) raised its purse ante 100%. For its opening-day Broward Handicap last week, Gulfstream drew too many horses (enough to run in two divisions), twice the attendance (20,216) it drew on commencement day last year....