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KENTUCKYS NEWEST TRACK Raceland Name of Course Being Erected at Ashland J O Kccne and Associates Flan to Hake It ItOne One of Most Beautiful and Commodious CommodiousRacing Racing Grounds in America A complete racing and recreation plant one not excelled anywhere in America for adequacy accessibility workmanship or nat ¬ ural beauty of location locationThat That is Raceland says the Ashland Daily Independent the new track grandstand and grounds of the TriState Fair and Racing Association located seven miles from down ¬ town Ashland and two miles from Russell Ky KyA A reporter for the Independent spent an entire day going over the site of Kentuckys fifth racing plant with J O Keene general manager of the racing association and owner of a 300acre Blue Grass farm near Lexing ¬ ton The reporters view is that not one per ¬ son out of a hundred realizes the extent and magnificence of this newest innovation in the TriState region regionApplication Application has been made by Thos B Cromwell secretary for twenfyfour days racing to begin at Raceland immediately after the close of the races at Latonia The dates for the first meeting will be from July 10 to August 4 4Meanwhile Meanwhile there is nothing but work going on at the new track Yesterday twentytwo teams were grading roads and driveways throughout the grounds piling dirt for the location of the spur from the main line of the Chesapeake Ohio railroad to within fifty feet of the grandstand site Special trains from Cincinnati Louisville and Lex ¬ ington as well as commutation trains from Portsmouth Ashland Russell Catlettsburg Huntington and Charleston will deliver rac ¬ ing fans directly to the grandstand grandstandThe The track itself has ueen finished It is a beautiful mile stretch with a mile and an eighth chute It is ninety feet wide on the backstretch and 100 feet wide on the curves and the homestretch From the grandstand and lawn a race may be seen for the entire circuit In the inside of the track will be sunken gardens a lake bridle paths and flower beds Around the entire grounds there will be a high wovenwire fence such as is used to fence in factories Honeysuckle and wild roses will in two or three years com ¬ pletely cover the fence fenceAround Around the track itself will of course be a standard rail fence of board and iron The grandstand will seat this year approx ¬ imately 4000 persons It is to be of steel and concrete and the first section will cost 110000 The contract was let last week tc a bridge construction company which has agreed to have all the materials on the ground by March 1 and to have the grand ¬ stand ready for use by May 1 Eight hun ¬ dred tons of steel will be used in the struc ¬ ture which will set back from the track about seventyfive feet giving space for a paved lawn in front of it itThe The starters judges timekeepers clerks and other officials will have their stands on the inside of the track directly opposite the grandstand grandstandOlfE OlfE BUILDING COMPLETED COMPLETEDThe The only building now completed and in use is the officials residence constructed at a cost of 10000 and now being used to house construction foremen and engineers George Horine of Lexington Is chief engineer while John Forsythe of Harrodsburg is ground superintendent in charge of grading road building and such work The house is of face brick two stories high and contains a large livingroom diningroom and kitchen several sleeping rooms and a clubroom It is located about 500 yards from the grand ¬ stand and will be connected with the latter by walkways walkwaysA A servants house has also been built and is now occupied by Aunt Fannie Mr Keenes veteran colored cook who has served in his family for nineteen years Aunt Fannie provides meals for those now at work on the grounds groundsGarages Garages to take care of a dozen or two automobiles are being built near the resi ¬ dence at the base of the wooded hills On the second floor will be eight rooms for the use of officials or friends who might want to remain on the grounds overnight overnightOf Of the farmhouses that went to make way for the racing establishment only one re ¬ mains It is located in the very center of the Continued on twelfth puce KENTUCKYS NEWEST TRACK Continued from first page big elliptical track and is occupied by a tenant family The racing association does not get possession of this house until March 1 The residence will then be moved and used near the entrance to the grounds as a secretarys office The other buildings around ithe house as it stands now will be torn down and the yard plowed up and leveled leveledIn In a beautiful clump of trees to the east of the track will be the paddock situated at least 400 yards from the grandstand This feature is duplicated at no other Kentucky race track trackOn On the hills back of the grandstand will be the 500 or more stables and quarters of the trainers and caretakers Work on these houses will be started next week Mr Keene said On the crest of another hill will be the water tank to provide water facilities for the entire plant plantUnder Under supervision of Mr Horine who has had years of experience in landscape engineering the vast expanse of the racing establishment which lies on 305 acres of roll ¬ ing land Raceland will become in a year or two one of the most beautifully arranged courses in the United States According to Mr Keene only the track at Saratoga N Y will compare with it in artistic design and beauty of location locationNot Not even does the black smoke of the trains interfere with the scenic tranquility Only the tops of the telegraph poles that follow the tracks can be seen from the lower steps of the grandstand Looking out of the grandstand ones eyes catch sight of the hills of Ohio skirting the river on the other side To the back are the hills of Greenup County At the side of the track and skirting it for half a mile will be the new AshlandGreenup hard road that passes by the entrance gates The road formerly passed over the site of the track but it was removed by the racing association who bore all expense in connection with the new surveys surveysGoing Going to Raceland automobilists will pass through West Winchester avenue out the paved road to Russell and through Russell and its thicklypopulated suburbs to Chinn ville along the line of the Russell railroad terminals Two routes are optional from Russell either across a viaduct over the railroad tracks of the main line or to the left over the new road for a short distance distanceAs As it will stand the first year Raceland will be able to accommodate upwards of 25000 persons most of whom of course will have to stand about the railing at the track until the proposed additions to the grand ¬ stand have been completed These additions added to either end can increase the capacity of the stands to whatever extent the re ¬ quirements demand in future years yearsMr Mr Keene will be a resident of Ashland for the next two years practically all of the time he told the Independent His duties as general manager make it necessary tor him to be here on the job almost all the time while the plant is being constructed After the first meeting Mr Keene and other officials will have to be here to superintend whatever expansions are seen to be neces
