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ALL READY AT "FAIR LATONIA" FOR A BRILLIANT SUMMER MEETING OF TWENTY-SIX DAYS Cincinnati. .. June s. — "Fair I.atonia" is virtually ready far next Fridays opening of what holds out every promise of lieing the most brilliant sea-on of summer racing iu the thirty-five years history of the lalliptakM and lwogressive joekev club, whose home is so picturesquely located amid the hills of Kentucky just across the Ohio from this city. Track su|K-riiiteiiilent Keegan has lieon faithfully earryteg into effect tkc ideas of Oaaatal ManageV •lohn Hachmeister lor the further einlKllishini nt of the trai-k anil it arill present an inviting appear ■ nee indeed when the gates are thrown open to the public on Friday for the inauguration of the meeting of twenty-si:; days of the finest brand of racing that it is possible to provide with the lure af rich stakes and valuable overnight purses to bring into frequent action the many high-class horses with which the stables at I-itonia will be filled by the time o|icniiig day arrives. All of the important racing establishments, whose horses have been making such notable turf history in Kentucky this spring, will be transferred eii masse to Latonia upon the close of the Douglas Bark meeting on Tuesday next and, in addition, s-iine stables that have not figured in the meetings already held at Lexington and Louisville, will make their debut for the season at the Kenton Conntv track. The problem of providing stabling accomodations for all the horsemen who are desirous of taking part in the I.atonia meeting liecame so acute, that Ceneral Managir Hachmeister was forced to the necessity of restricting stall reservations to horses actually ready to race. Latonia has abundant stall equipment for the normal number of horses, but the demands this year are extraordinary and furnish one of severai equally good reasons for the general belief that I-atnnia v ill this summer lie the s.-ene of the most remarkable race meeting m all the it— and illustrious history of the Kentucky turf. With an abundance of good horses fit and ready to fill the tempting races with which fie program book is so well supplied, it is indeed a pleasing prospect that the patrons of racing at Latonia are facing. Nnbody can recall when there was such keen public Interest in the great snort of racing as then-is this year. While the brilliancy of th« racing itself undoubtedly is responsible for much of the increased interest, it probably is true that the commendable undertaking of the racing interests of Kentucky iu pledging the raising of a fund of IMaVO-Kl for Bed Cross purposes has stimulated pub-Be support of the sport. The racing associations are doiag other things to help the government win the war. too. and are co-oiierating in every way jxissible with the suggestions and desires of the government in the conduct of their affairs. For instance, manager Hachmeister has decreed that after July 1. when General Crowders "work or fight" regulation goes into effect, no man of draft age shall be employed " by the associations over whose affairs he presides. It is manager Ilach- meisters oolicy not only to comply with the letter of the law. but with the spirit as well. The Inaugural Handicap of *J. MK added, around which racing secretary Campbell will build a card of surpassing brilliancy for the opening day, is a race of great possibilities. It closed in March with seventy eligibles and if there are twelve starters, which se.nis not an unreasonable expectation, the race will have a gross value of something like ,650. Most of the horses that recently met in the running of the rich Kentucky Handicap are eligible for this race and the field will Is- com-IMised of much the same horses that contested for that prize at Douglas Bark on June 1. Cudgel is among the eligible, but it is hardly ex-jiected that he will come west for the running of this race. But Bif Jr.. which ran second in the big race, is sure to be a contender at I.atonia on Friday. And so will Arriet, Green Jones, Cant. Bees. Midway. Kancher and Beaverkill. which finished behind the placed horses, in all probabilitv. And other likely starters include such performers of proven merit as King iorin. wini.er Of the Kentucky Handicap of 1117: Kscoba. one of the star three-year-olds of the season and the prospective favorite for the Latonia Derby, to be run on Saturday. June 12; the brilliant sprinter Solly, which lias upon occasions shown a disposition to stay as far as the mile and one-sixteenth of this race; Freecutter. whose recent race at Douglas Bark indicated that he will have to be reckoned with among the good three-year-olds of the year: Fruit Cake, a popular filly in the Macomber stable, and Bromo. a high-class horse of H. B. Whitneys breeding that Edward Trotter has been getting ready for his Latonia engagements, to say nothing of many lesser lights of the turf that are on edge and whose owners may Is- tempted by a favorable adjustment of the weights to take a chance at winning it. The Inaugural Handicap has Ix-cn run five times to date, having lieeu established in 1913. Its list of winners is made up of such notable racers as Jowell. Belloc. Prince Hermis. Waterblossom and OM Bnsebud. The chances are that it will be won this year by a horse that will measure up to the best traditions of the race, since there are so many good horses eligible for it. Things are shaping up well for a great Derby-race at Latonia on June 22. Several owners who believe their candidates will be especially well served by the mile and one-half distance that puts this Derby contest iu a class by itself among American racing fixtures dignified by the D?rby title have made known their intention of being represented in the race within the past few days and it is becoming evident that the field will la-one of excellent quality and size. Kenneth D. Alexanders Kscoba and Jeorge J. Longs Freecutter are the most prominent of the candidates in training for the race in the west, and William Martins Sunny Slope is regarded as the most likely of tin-eastern candidates. The race will have a gross value of something like 5,000.
