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BOW BOWIE CREW TO ITS IMFCKTAHCE. ■awatt Maryland Track 07ercame Strong Opro.-.ition and Earaod Its Way to Recognition. Baltimore, Md. Jane is.-— n was m October of 1914 thai James F. OHara, Gad Bryan and their nciates gave the first meeting ..! tin N..iitliciii Maryland Agricultural Pair Association at the Bowk track, a racing ground thai i- just aboal mWwaj between Baltimore and Washington. For thai first meeting tut; ::..vie track had !•• race against Laurel, an established track that bad already won anccesa, and a link thai was jut . about ■ half dosea mil di: ta.it. Manj were of the spinii n that the new amaeiatHn had abaolutelj u«. chance for — ceeaa. The opposition was to., strong and it ama not t . he expected that Maryland wauld Hupport two race meetings at the same time. Bat !:..-. .ie areal throagh with its ii: ■ ting and, in Bact, nutde money. The fine courage of ti. mortamen i." launch d the new track nut with a merited success and, while Laurel has its full ijnota of patronage, Bowie as firmly established itself mi the racing map of Maryland that ever Rince It has had a recognised place in the Maryland schedule and it is awarded dates both spring and f. :i. The s,.rin "f uti.i ;:w the mrrtlag crow aaa-i-; lly and each meetiag since has more strongly entrenched the new track in the Maryland circuit. The datea that were awarded Bowie fitt.-.l in nicely with the oW racing time of the oM Washington Jockey Club, thai raced aver tl,-- Benalnga track. and now Bowie is the Alpha and Omega of the eastern racing season. Racing Dates Least Dosdrrblc in Yean, i;:. h y -ar Bowie has opened April l and the fall meetina baa closed November SO. The oaten earning i:i i!:e early spring and the late ft. 11 make them the leasi deshabie in all the raeinf year, but the quality of sport that has been aOTered has hroaght a full measure of sue ess. As the racing prospered a! the !. a brack the pmse values were raised, until Bowie attained an Importance that attracted some of the heal --.a:. I -s in training and the same progressive plana are still being foOowed. For the meeting nexl fall it is Utopian 8 t open . me stakes, though in the past the money has all been diatribated in overalght purses, a plan that, as a general nropositfcm, fits in with the Ideas of harscmen at the Bowie season better than stake offerings. One more commendable thing about Mm Bowie i ■■■• ing is that Bacim; Secretary Joseph .McLennan has, from the first. Blade up his pieginmi so that horsi s are required to r.o-e aver useful distances. In the early spring it is usual for the secretaries to have racing cards that are made up of worthless sprinting races. Tests that are not worth while. whether they ! •• for selling; platers, or for horses of the stake division, always bring abo.it liberal entries, for it is easier to train a horse to race five eighths than it is to fit ban to travel a mile and .i quarter. At Bowie iltiiin the first two weeks in April sad the last two weeks in November, horses were required to race over a distance of iroaiul and the races filled well. The contests were first class and altogether the racing was mark more aatiafartery than ii waa at so many of the- tracks that Confined their race prognuna to sprinting distances. The same policy will be continued in the meot-Inga that are to come and Bowie is sure to steadily grow in racing importance.
