view raw text
MANY IMPROVEMENTS AT LAUREL PARK Maryland State Fair Officials Grooming- Course for Coming Twenty-Seven Day3 October-Meeting. - Laurel, Md., September 14. Laurel Park, the racing plant of the Maryland State Fair, where the thoroughbreds will struggle for gold and glory during the entire month of .Qctober,- is bejng rapidly groomed for the fiftli meeting under the management of Col. M. J. Winn and which is destined to be the most brilliant ever held here. Although improvements made last fall rounded the plant into one of the most complete and up-to-date, several thousand dollars is now being expended to add to the general beauty of the place, and when the gates are swung open the first day of next month, the followers of the turf will doubtless agree that Laurel has one of the prettiest tracks in America, or, in fact, any other country. Laurel Park, as it now is, reminds one of Churchill Downs, famous for its beauty. Of course, it is not as handsome as the home of the New Louisville Jockey Club, but in time it will vie in grandeur with the Kentucky plant, on which years have been spent to make it one of the finest of its kind in the world. The October meeting of the Maryland State Fair will mark the seventh year of racing at Laurel Park. During the past four years, with Col. Winn at the helm, the plant has undergone marvelous changes. It has been transformed from one of the crudest into one of the most modern. To bring this about, the Maryland State Fair has spent around 70,000, which exceeds the original cost of its construction. Men who have their money invested in Laurel Park, are true lovers of thoroughbred racing and are a credit to the sport, which as it lias been conducted under the present management, gains instead of loses patrons as is best demonstrated by the wonderful popularity of the siwrt at the Maryland State Fair track, the attendance having almost doubled each year. FREE ADMISSION TO PADDOCK. The secret of the success of racing at Laurel Park can be attributed to the liberal treatment of the horsemen and the widely-known slogan of the management "to please the public." That the management is always keen to cater to the supporters of the sport was apparent today, when it was announced that no extra charge would be made for a trip to the paddock, and anybody will be at liberty to get inside "info" during the coining meeting, which will be of twenty-seven racing days duration. As a precaution against injury to those who have a desire to go to the paddock before the running of each race, a guard rail has been erected and visitors need have no fear of some fractious equine kicking them. A problem which already is perplexing to those in charge of the racing at Laurel Park is how to get 1,500 horses in 1,200 stalls. Though the applications may not reach the 1,500 mark, over 1,400 have been applied for and the heavy demand for stabling certainly indicates the most successful meeting Laurel Park has staged since it gained a place on the turf calendar seven years ago. As in the past, class will predominate. Since Col. Winn assumed control of the plant five years ago, six new stakes have been added to the program and his liberality in the distribution of the purses, as well, in the headliners, will attract to Laurel the cleverest thoroughbreds developed during lie turf campaign of 1917.
