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WOODBINE INAUGURAL » Canadian Racing Season of 1928 to Begin Today. ♦ Long-Established Kings Plate Feature Attraction of the Opening Program. • TORONTO, Ont., May 18.— The sixty-ninth running of the Kings Plate, one of the famous turf classics on the North American continent, will be featured at the opening of the Ontario Jockey Clubs spring meeting of racing at the Woodbine tomorrow afternoon. Always one of the most beautiful race courses in Canada, Woodbine is more attractive than ever this spring. At an outlay of some 50,000 many improvements have been made to the plant. Most important has been the erection of a new club members stand ; a new paddock and additional space in the main stand has been added, which means more seating capacity for the general public. With the rainfall of Wednesday night and Thursday, the footing is a bit heavy today, but promises to be in splendid condition tomorrow. In fact, if no rain falls in the meantime, the track will be fast. The program provided for the opening days sport is made up of a series of seven races, all well balanced contests, which hold out a promise of exciting sport. OXE-SIDED AFFAIR. The plate this year is no one-sided affair, despite the claims of the Seagram confederacy. Some of the others have shown trials which stamp them as keen factors. Fifteen are carded to go to the post in the Plate. Best Bonnet and Young Kitty are coupled as the Seagram stable entry ; Bikos and Bonnington as the Robson-Cowie entry : Hanna Deebe, Iehitaro and Dushka as the Fletch entry, and Mystic Star and Head Lad as the Thorncliffe Stable entry. The Seagram entry will undoubtedly be the favorite. Torontoians will have an opportunity of seeing L. Pichon in action on Young Kitty. This is the lad the Seagrams signed up in .Maryland this spring. He is a capable jockey and one of the best riders the Waterloo sportsman has had in some time. The Fletcher filly Dushka, on the strength of her sensational trial a few days back, when she went a mile in 1 :42%, first three-quarters in 1 :13t5 and eased up all the last quarter, is sure to bring her strong support. This filly has come out of winter quarters looking in grand condition and she is undoubtedly to be reckoned with. As a matter of fact, there are many who look to sec her prove a stumbling block to Young Kitty. They point to the fact that she should have beaten Young Kitty last fall, the latter winning, they claim, through racing luck. BONINGTOX READY. Bonnington is another that is well thought of by her connections. She has done all her trainer has asked of her and if she is beaten there are no excuses to offer on lack of condition, for she is as fast and good as hands can make her. R. Townrow, the regular stable jockey, will ride her. As mentioned above, the race is no onesided affair and a good contest should result. An additional attraction will be the Aintree Steeplechase, over the two-mile course. This stake has an added value of ,000 and six have accepted the weights. The Connaught Cup and the Trial riate are other feature races. The card is a splendid one and, with clear skies a record-breaking attendance should be present. The official family at the Woodbine will be the same as last year, except that J. B. Campbell is substituting for Frank J. Bryan as racing secretary and C. J. Fitzgerald will be one of the stewards in the absence of Mr. Bryan, whose illness prevents him from coming to the Woodbine this spring. Mortimer Mahoney announced that he would have a battery of seventy-five sellers and seventy-five cashiers in line at Woodbine. It has been decided to eliminate all fields, which means that tickets can be purchased on each individual horse in the future. In all stakes post positions will be drawn for forty-five minutes before the running of these events. In other races post positions will be in the order of the horses sent out in the entries. A luncheon will be served in the club members enclosure at 12 :30 every day. A dinner dance immediately following the races will be given until 3 oclock. The catering privileges in the club house are being looked after by the King Edward Hotel, and the management announced that all table reservations for the first dinner dance have been taken up. P. Blake, a jockey who has ridden in Australia, Japan, China and India, is here with the C. E. Murray stable. • ■
