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GOOD MEETING NEAR AN END i ♦ 1 — i I Fair Grounds Racing of 1922 to Terminate Tomorrow. ■ • — . ! Mardi Gras Visitors Help to Swell J Lucrative Attendance — Win- ning Owners and Riders. J a ♦ t i NEW ORLEANS, La.. February 2fi — Although I the Fair Grounds track dried so that it was fast this morning it began raining hard late this after- • noon and the going will be heavy for the remaining two days of the meeting. Regardless of track conditions the banner racing of the meeting is in I sight for the windup and it is certain to be wit- nessed by crowds of record numbers. The city is taxed almost to capacity now with Mardi Gras visitors and every mode of travel • is bringing in more. The past week found the daily attendance of Saturday of holiday variety despite unfavorable weather and a muddy track on three of the six days. On Mardi Gras day the richest race of the meeting will be decided, the $.i.000 added Mardi Gras Handicap and the best long-distance perform- era in these parts are scheduled to contest it. The I entire program is in keeping with the occasion, as only two claiming races are on it. Guy. winner of two races in his only starts here, will be put to the hardest task of his career in the Mardi Gras feature. His weight impost will be 129 pounds, a figure much in excess of auythjng he lias shouldered heretofore. Following this race i it is the intention of J. P. Phillips to send him to Tijuana to fill several stake engagements. There will be a hurried exodus on the part of horsemen here this week. The shipments to Mobile will begiu tomorrow 1 and no delay will be encountered in this respect, as it is only a short journey and most of the owners will send their horses by freight. The Kentuckians appear anxious to get back to the Blue Grass state as soon as possible. The M. and J. Lowenstein horses left yesterday, while John M. Goode. C. W. Clark, T. F. Devereaux. Florisant Stable and G. L. Blackford have orders in for express cars as soon as they are available. The Kentucky contingent had a more profitable winter than usual in winning the eight Saturday feature races, as well as numerous other races. FAVOBITES FARE POORLY. Favorites again fared poorly during the past week at the Fair Grounds, only fourteen winning in forty -two races. These made 120 successful choices since the meeting opened, a percentage of .41. An even heat resulted with odds-on favorites in the last six days, two winning and the same number meeting defeat. Choices at less than evens have not performed as well as expected, as twenty -niuc won and twenty-four proved failures. After two weeks of little activity the C. W. Clark stable, which heads the money winning owners list here, managed to get in another victory yesterday, bringing the total earnings of this establishment to 3,614; John M. Goodc moved above the 0,000 mark with last weeks racing and these are the only two stables that have reached that figure. The Business Mens Racing Association has given Kl,5O0 to date and -40 owners have shared in it. The most successful are: C. W. Clark. 3,614: J. M. Goode, 0,207; J. S. Hays, .ST.O; W. I. Bernhardt. ,163; G. Drumheller. ,017; Marshall Bros.. ,033; J. Cunniffe, ,281; W. Daniel. $." ,W0: P. J. Lavin. $."..742; J. L. Holland. ,156; T. O. Webber. ,143, and Montfort Jones, «.034. Jockey 0. Lang came back into his own last week and piloted nine winners. He has scored fifty-nine times at the meeting and this clinches the leadership for him. A. Wilson, who is next in order, has thirty-seven victories to his credit, while Mack Garner has finished in front twenty-eight times. Garner rode only one day out of the past six, illness keeping him out of the saddle the remainder of the time. Earl Pool has been displaying excellent form recently, especially in close finishes. Ninety-six jockeys have accepted mounts at the local meeting and forty-two have ridden one or more winners. Trainer A. G. Blakeley has changed his shipping plans with Lighter and Costigan, which he will take to Havana to run in the Cuban Derby. Instead of leaving Wednesday by rail to Key West, Florida, and thence by boat to Havana, he will load them on a steamer here Saturday and they will make the entire journey by water. He and jockey Mack Garner will defer their departure until the same date. L. H. "Stump" Sewell. agent for the C. W. Clark stable, lert last night for his home in Louisville, Ky. The Clark horses will be sent to either I-a-xington or Churchill Downs as soon as after the local meeting ends as an express car can be had. In order to allow the racing patrons ample time to view the Mardi Gras parade, the first race Tuesday will be called to the post at 2:45 oclock, thirty minutes later than usual.
