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KENTUCKY TURF PROSPERITY ♦ Chiefly Due to Liberal Prizes Hung Up by Racing Associations. * Nearly Half-Million Dollars in Stakes and Purses Will Be Distributed This Year. ♦ — « im iniuJi. O.. April Ml — It is a time-honored .-:!i i well -defined axiom that money is the all-powerful lover tit:* t keeps tin- mH moving. It is no different in its application to sjiort than to tlie • thcr affairs of life. There is no question but that ilie wonderful expansion anil prosiicrity that has at-; tided K« ntucky racing in recent years h.-.s been chiefly due to the liberal prizes which the racing associations of the Blue Grass State have hung up tu be contested for. Big money for the horses is the foundation uixm which the present highly satisfactory racing fabric in Kentucky has been built up. Big money attracts the In-st horses of America to Kentucky and the presence of tiie stars of the lurf in turn attracts racing enthusiasts from far and near to s»-e the notable contests in which they engage. The one thing follows the other as a matte:- • •f course and this explains to a iarge degree why the Kentucky turf has thrived anil flourished as it has during the past few years under the wise and iiciicfiooiit control of the State Racing Commission. I uri::g the spring racing season of sixty-eight racing dry*. o|ieniug at Lexington oil Tuesday next anil terminating at Latonia July 13. nearly a half -million dollars will lie distributed in stakes and purses by tlie four racing associations of the state. This princely sum repn scnts a greater iier diem distribution than any other racing circuit in America, offers tlie horsemen and this explains why Kentucky is the scene of such wonderful racing "as has hen the ,-ub- of late. Tiie Lexington and Churchill Downs tracks will contribute nearly 00.NM of the half million to be distributed among the horsemen this spring, while the Douglas Park and I.-ttouia tracks, over whose destinies John llachnieister presides, will furnish the remaining 00,000. The Douglas Park and Latonia meetings will take place at a time when there will l»e no racing of iiniwirtauce elsewhere in America except on the New York tracks. The bnaafl -n:t Maryland circuit meetings will have ;. ii finished and a considerable number of horsemen, besides many followers of the turf who arc partial to racing conducted wi!h the pari-iuutuel adjunct, will come west at that time. to swell the ranks of those who have been patronizing the earlier •lot-tings in Kentucky. So the Douglas Park and l.ilonia meetings will naturally represent the height of the Kentucky season. CLIMAX REACHED AT LATONIA. The climax of the season will really not lie ronciied until the scene of racing shifts to Latonia. with its wealth of rich stake offerings and its splendid clientele of Main. ns from the populous ter-litory tributary to it. in addition to the large iiuin-Ikt of visitors from distant points who patronize all the Kentucky tracks, and whose numliers will lie swelled this spring by the presence of many who have been accustomed to patronize racing in Canada, where the sport has been suspended this year on account of war conditions. Tlie tempting character of the Kentucky stake program, which is admittedly the big factor in attractive the foremost of American horses to the lltae Grass circuit, is vividly illustrated in the stib-joiw-d tabulation of the estimated gross and net values of the stakes to In- run at Douglas Park and l-u.otiia this spring, based ii|miii the assumption that twelve horses will take part in the races named: At Douglas Park. Xo. Xom- Cross Net Value Stake. inations. Value, to Winr Kciitic ky Handicap 43 5,250 .*«12.250 Spring Trial Stakes 124 5.3*0 4MHI Memorial Handicap 00 M 2.770 S|M,vulation Stakes 72 2.*20 2.200 At Latonia. Xo. Xom- Gross SH Value Stake. inations. Value, to Winr Latonia Derby «K l.7oo 1,400 Cincinnati Trophy Ill S.IMO « 670 Harold Stakes 10*; 4.220 SAW Independence Handicap . . 70 4. lad 3 fgg Clijisetta Stake- 90 3.990 3..TM Quickstep Handicap 76 3.740 3.110 InauKur.il Handicap 70 3.650 * 9**0 Valuation Stakes 97 ."t.Vi.i 2 925 Merchants Stakes 93 MM 2! 420 Hut the story is only half told by the figures quoted above and less than half, to be literal. The stake list, although it embraces the most val liable of all American races for horses of the all aged division, the Kentucky Handicap and the Lata*!* Derby, one of the most valuable of Ameri can races for three-year-olds, represents only twenty-five per cent of the total distribution. The daily distribution at Churchill Downs. Doug las Park and Latonia ranges between ,000 and .000. everything taken into consideration and nearly seventy-five per cent of this amount is devoted to overnight purses, including many of sufficient value to keep the high-class horses occupied profitably, aside from their stake engagements, in a manner which serves to hold the racing up to a high standard day after day. ■ , a .
