view raw text
GRAND TRIBUTE TO RACING. TWENTY -FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE TURN OUT TO ATTEST OAKLANDS POPULARITY. Only Meelick Wins for Hildreth of All His Starters and His Victory Proves Costly to His Owner. San Francisco. Cal.. April 17 — The racing was very wonderful and some of t.lH greatest horses on the turf were contestants at Oakland today. Still, it was of secondary inns«itance to the occasion ilself. which marked the probable wiinlup of the great sport in California. The pirblic paid an extraordinary tribute to its popularity. 25.000 tx-rsons being there to video a huge protest against its threatened extinction. Clubhouse, grandstand and enclosure were densely packed. Thousands were unable to get into tike ring to place their wagers. The enthusiasm throughout the afternoon was simply Indescribable. It was a local tribute worthy of. the occasion. S. C. Hihireths stable was conspicuously prominent during the afternoon. Meelick. however, at 1 to 2. was the only one of his great trio of horses, including Uestigouebe* and Dandelion, that made good, and his victory proved very costly to his owner, as H. O. Bedwell bid him up from ,400 to ,400 before he stopped. Illldrcth retained Iih stake horse with the customary advance. Mee tick Is the best horse that has ever started iu a selling race on the coast. Dandelion and Woodi-raft failed in the Rtithcrf.n I Handicap because they met a better horse in Stan ley Fay. while bad racing luck beat Kestigoucii • in Hie closing sprint. The big two-year-old race was captured bv Turret. The stewanis are now looking for Scovllle. who rode both Boogcr Red and Turret when beaten !:: preceding races. This without doubt was the greatest and most memorable days racing in every sense that has ever been seen on the Pacific coast.
