Horse Detective

Spencer J. Drayton knew mighty little about horse racing, but in 14 years with the FBI he had learned how to smell out sharp practices. Last week, after three months of stable sniffing, coolheaded, closemouthed Spencer Drayton made his first big news as chief snoop for the Thoroughbred Racing Associations' 37 race tracks. Case No. 1 was the story of three jockeys who "connived and conspired" to fix a race at Florida's Tropical Park last April 17. One of them, Robert Keane, then doublecrossed the others by riding to win, when he was "supposed" to lose. The Florida Racing Commission promptly suspended all three jockeys.

Case No. 2 was the story of a Delaware horse-owner, who had switched horses' names and made a mint by racing a good horse as a long-shot unknown. William F. Mink, the owner, picked up an unimpressive five-year-old gelding named All-pulch for $210. Next, at Pimlico last fall, he claimed Sea Command, son of War Admiral, for $3,750.

Then, said Drayton, identification papers were switched. Results: for the past eight months Sea Command has been running as Allpulch--usually a long shot, but five times a winner. The real Allpulch has disappeared. At one race in New Hampshire--supposedly Allpulch's "maiden" race--one man cleaned up $30,000 betting on the horse (at 13-to-1 odds) that only insiders knew was really Sea Command.

Drayton was the Thoroughbred Racing Associations' second choice for his job, created to root out postwar racing's "undesirable elements." The T.R.A. offered the post first to J. Edgar Hoover, followed his advice when he recommended his onetime assistant, laconic, cigar-smoking Spencer Drayton, who had helped capture the Nazi saboteurs who landed on Long Island in June, 1942. Drayton has hired practically no one but ex-FBI men as investigators. Their chief trouble so far: baseless "tips" from people who have bet on the wrong horse. Even so, Drayton thinks his job is valuable. Says he: "My presence deters crime."

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