Back to the topic.....the war for control of the racing wire during this time frame fascinates me. Ragen was a dead man walking when he defied the Outfit, and it is surprising he lasted as long as he did.

There is a ton of testimony on the Race Wire war in the Kefauver hearings. In St. Louis, when Continental went away, Pioneer News became the new provider of race wire results.

An interesting legal battle began, because one of Pioneer's owners, William Molasky, was also a significant owner of Western Union, who owned the wire. There were attempts to cut off the phones and the wires at Pioneer, due to illegal activity, and the case went to district court, then circuit court and finally, the Missouri Supreme Court. It was appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, who denied the petition to hear the case.