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ARLINGTON IMPROVEMENTS Over 600000 Spent in Building BuildingSteeplechase Steeplechase Course and andBeautifying Beautifying Grounds A total of 040000 has been put in Im ¬ provements at Arlington Park since the newly organised Arlington Park Jockey Club se ¬ cured control of the mammoth course Of this sum 290000 was spent before the first meeting under the new dispensation which took up all of last July and was marked by the inauguration of the Classic a gallop of one mile and a quarter that paid its win ¬ ner Blue Larkspur 59900 and a group of other stakes that are destined to loom big in American racing of the future The other 350000 came out of earnings of 800000 of the first meeting which exceeded the ex ¬ pectations of the directors directorsArlington Arlington has in its infield a pond hedged about by beautiful flowering shrubbery just like Saratoga and Belmont Park and on this pond a small flock of domesticated mallard ducks and two pair of swans live and play about aboutThe The biggest of Arlington improvements has been the construction of a steeplechase course second to none other on the continent as to the number stiffness and regularity of its jumps and the security of its footing This steeplechase course has been built under the eye of the Belmont Park superintendent H I Pels lent for the job by Mr Widener It lies inside the perfectly engineered main course which is one mile and a furlong around occupying the ground on which the old inner course was laid To make it thirty acres of sod has been put down downOf Of the 000000 to 050000 that will be dis ¬ tributed in stakes and purses in the thirty days racing from June 30 to August 2 in ¬ clusive at least 30000 will be for steeple ¬ chasers Three jumping races a week will be staged each with an added money value of 2000 The directors may elect to insti ¬ tute a couple of stakes of considerable value The steeplechasing Arlington patrons will enjoy in July will be the first ever pro ¬ moted at Chicago after the improved eastern model and under the aegis of the National Steeplechase and Hunts Association which controls steeplechasing at Belmont Park Saratoga and Aqueduct ana through the East generally generallyaiAKT aiAKT ALTERATIONS ALTERATIONSTwo Two hundred thousand cubic yards of soil removed from the infield in a leveling op ¬ eration to facilitate drainage and enhance landscape effects has been used for the con ¬ struction of an embankment on which a chute for the starting of mile races lies This chute is ready for the horses now Alterations in and under the grandstand which seats 22000 and snelters above and below in bad weather 40000 have been made to aid orderly movement and increase betting room upward of seventy acres have been added to the parking space for auto ¬ mobiles which represents an increase of about 50 per cent over last years area areaThe The roomy saddling paddock has been com ¬ pletely rearranged and set out in elms and maples two new trainsheds have been built and two new sidings and 2100 feet of walk ¬ way constructed Five trains will discharge passengers this year and from now on where only one could do that last year and the year before beforeThe The completion of the Chicago Northwest ¬ ern Railways third track which will be used exclusively for Arlington trains will shorten the trip measured by time from Chicago to twentyfive or thirty minutes and make possible the dispatching of racing specials at intervals of twenty minutes from any given hour hourOther Other construction that will have been completed before the opening of the coming meeting will be a new mile course for gal ¬ loping horses mornings and a schooling course for jumpers
