view raw text
ST. LOUIS OPENING POSTPONED. The Inaugural Handicap will not be decided at St. Louis today. The reason is fully set forth in the following from yesterdays St. Louis Republic : Because of the street car strike, the Executive Board of the St. Louis Fair Association met yesterday and decided to postpone the opening of the race meeting, scheduled for tomorrow, until Thursday, May 17. It was with the utmost reluctance that the officials decided upon this action, but the situation made it im- i perative. The Inaugural is one of the most popular stakes of the meeting and usually draws an attendance of upwards of 15,000 persons. Ever since the strike began numerous requests have been received by President Aull for a postponement. As fully 90 per cent, of the patrons of the race meeting rely entirely upon the street cars for transportation to and from the grounds, it was deemed only fair to the sport-loving people of St. Louis to postpone the opening. "It is anticipated that the strike will be settled by Thursday, but whether public traffic is re-established on that day or not the meeting will be positively opened, the Inaugural being run on Thursday, the Mound City Stakes Friday, and the Debutante Saturday, as per the original announcement. This part of the adopted program is out of deference to the interests of the horsemen, who are, of course, entitled to i a full share of consideration. While the horsemen, as a class, would prefer to see the meeting open on the scheduled date, they appreciate the difficulty of the present situation, and have accepted it gracefully. "There will be no absentee when the horses line up for the word in Thursdays big event. "The authority of the board in determining to postpone is fully given in racing rule 190."
