Illinois Tracks Distribute Total of ,816,950 in 1932: Sport Maintained on Magnificent Scale despite Adverse Conditions, Daily Racing Form, 1932-11-01

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ILLINOIS TRACKS DISTRIBUTE TOTAL OF ,816,950 IN 1932 . Sport Maintained on Magnificent Scale Despite Adverse Conditions Tracks Show Profit Instead of Loss Sportsmans Park Introduces Half Mile Track Racing to Chicago "Daily Double" Stimulant for Wagering Leading Winners of Circuit - - - - --t I Total Distribution Jn Turf Prizes ....,816,950 j Leading Owner, M. L. Schwartz. 133,050 j Leading Horse, Gusto 128,800 Leading Rider, T. P. Martin .95 Winners j Leading Trainer, C. E. Davison 29 Winners j Worlds record for 1 mile, Equipoise 1:34 k. 4 The Illinois racing season of 1932, which closed at Sportsmans Park Monday, has been the most remarkable in many respects in the history of the sport in this state. Despite the world-wide depression, with general business conditions almost at a standstill, racing in Illinois was not only maintained without a loss, but all the race tracks, with the probable exception of Aurora, showed a profit, though naturally the profits were small in comparison with the returns of the golden era of a few years back. Retrenchments were made, but they were absolutely neccesary to carry on without substantial losses. One of the most popular, and at the same time the determining factor in the ultimate success of the various meetings was the reduction of the general admission price to .00. This wise move resulted in greatly increased attendance, with a corresponding increase in the volume of speculation in th mutuels. The adoption of the "daily double" at a majority of the Illinois tracks provided a healthy stimulus to wagering and met with universal popularity. An innovation to the Chicago racing public was the introduction of a modern up-to-date half-mile track, Sportsmans Park, located directly across the road from Hawthorne. This beautiful little track immediately appealed to racegoers, who attended its spring and fall meetings in large numbers. The first open rift in the affairs of the Illinois Turf Association took place when the management of the Aurora track announced a fall meeting in opposition to Lincoln Fields, with disastrous results for the Fox Valley Association, as the Aurora track was closed after two days racing because of lack of sufficient patronage to warrant carrying on without sustaining enormous losses. In contrast the Lincoln Fields meeting was highly successful. Illinois surely played an important part in maintaining the stability of American racing under the prevailing adverse economic conditions, and though the total distribution for the year falls short of the total for 1931, it is nothing short of marvelous that the combined racing organizations were able to disburse among the horsemen the imposing sum of ,816,950 in stakes and purses, a daily average distribution of ,950.49. Arlington Park, where a policy of a stake a day was carried out, furnished 91,610 of the above-mentioned sum, and was the leader in that respect, as it was for the last four years. The ever popular Hawthorne track was responsible for 24,455; Washington Park for 21,990; Lincoln Fields, 04,000, with the new half-mile track, Sportsmans Park, aiding to the extent of 80,800. Auroras share was 08,500; Fairmount Parks 2,700. With such liberality it was only natural that a majority of the principal racing establishments of the country were represented in Chicago racing, and practically all of the outstanding thoroughbreds of the year were seen in competition in such rich stakes as the Classic, American Derby, Arlington Futurity, Hawthorne Handicap, Arlington and Hawthorne Gold Cups, as well as other fixtures of great interest and importance. The result, was that Chicago patrons of racing had the pleasure to see such equine giants of the turf as Equipoise, Faireno, Gusto, Top Flight, Plucky Play, Ladysman and many others in notable performances that marked some of the most brilliant sport of the year. A comparative statement of the distribution by the various Illinois tracks for the last six years is shown below: Organization. 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 Arlington Park Jockey Club $ 190,455 $ 467,840 $ 495,725 $ 650,745 $ 667,250 $ 591,610 Chicago Business Mens Racing Association Hawthorne 375,865 470,592 420,875 536,925 543,825 324,455 Washington Park Jockey Club 402,583 376,665 391,110 383,625 321,990 Lincoln Fields Jockey Club 418,237 493,680 334,942 334,905 329,980 - 204,000 Exposition Park Jockey Club Aurora. 255,905 202,600 223,975 130,190 123,400 108,500 Fairmount Jockey Club 481,380 431,375 415,500 326,260 126,975 82,700 National Jockey Club Sportsmans Park 180,800 Illinois State Fair Springfield 5,510 4,645 2,895 Midwest Jockey Club Danville.... . 3,000 Grand Totals ....,124,425 ,066,087 ,267,682 ,375,645 ,182,700 ,816,950 The average daily distribution at Illinois tracks for 1932 and the previous five years follows: Racing Races Days Run Daily Av. Daily Av. Daily Av. Daily Av. Daily A v. Daily Av. Track. 1932 1932 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 Arlington Park 30 223 1,903.44 1,410.73 7,093.89 1,691.50 2,241.66 9,720.33 Hawthorne ; 29 232 9,637.56 10,457.60 13,576.61 11,423.94 11,329.69 11,188.10 Washington Park 30 210 10,588.95 12,555.50 13,037.00 12,787.50 10,733.00 Lincoln Fields 31 248 11,330.79 11,481.09 11,164.67 11,163.50 10,999.93 6,580.65 Fairmount Park........... 25 200 8,445.26 8,627.50 8,127.45 6,397.25 5,079.00 3,308.00 Aurora 20 145 7,311.57 6,986.21 6,399.29 6,199.52 6,170.00 5,425.00 Sportsmans Park .- 37 277 4,886.48 Springfield Fair 1 1 5,510.00 4,645.00 2,895.00 Danville 3,000.00 Totals and General Av... 203 1,536 $ 9,569.48 $ 9,933.21 1,008.17 1,312.60 1,927.32 $ 8,950.49 Continued on twentieth page. i i i : : s i i g ILLINOIS TRACKS DISTRIBUTE ,816,950 Continued from first page. Herewith is presented an exhibition of the details of the various meetings held in Illinois this year, all of which clearly indicated under the various captions prefixing the subjoined tabulation: Track and Meeting. O - 3 ? g ? . 2. g g- 3 2 Arlington Park.. 30 223 182 379 $ 591,616 76 45 102 i9 ll .34 Hawthorne 29 232 210 418 324,455 73 47 113 18 9 .31 Washington Park 30 210 225 434 321,990 70 41 99 17 4 .30 Lincoln Fields 31 248 220 421 204,000 79 54 115 11 7 .32 Sportsmans Park first meeting.... 18 144 147 242 105,300 45 27 72 1 1 .31 Aurora first meeting 18 129 147 261 99,600 45 20 64 5 1 .35 Fairmount Park 25 200 189 330 82700 71 43 86 6 3 .35 -Sportsmans Park second meeting.. 19 133 162 266 75,500 53 23 "57 2 3 .39 Aurora second meeting 2 16 45 58 8,900 8 5 3 1 1 .50 Springfield Fair 1 1 3 3 2,895 No betting Totals 203 1,536 1,816,950 520 305 711 80 40 .34 0ne deat heat. . The following are the stakes of a value of 0,000 or more that were decided on Illinois tracks during the year 1932: Stake. Date. Track. Winner. Value. American Derby June 18 Washington Park Gusto 8,200 Arlington Oaks July 2 Arlington Park .......Top Flight. 13,475 Stars and Stripes Handicap July 4... ... Arlington Park .Equipoise 22,300 Arlington Gold Cup... July 9 Arlington Park Equipoise 20,200 Hyde Park Stakes July 13 Arlington Park Crowning Glory...... 17,350 Classic Stakes July 16 Arlington Park Gusto ..... 76,600 Arlington Lassie Stakes..... July 20 Arlington Park Hilena .17,900 Arlington Handicap...... July 23 Arlington Park Plucky Play . 22,000 Arlington Futurity July 30. ..... Arlington Park .Ladysman 38,010 Hawthorne Handicap Aug. 6 Hawthorne Faireno 25,950 Hawthorne Gold Cup Aug. 27 .Hawthorne .Plucky Play 21,450 TEN LEADING OWNERS. Nearly every name prominently identified with racing in America is to be found listed among those that participated in Illinois racing this year. Many of the leading owners, East and West, raced the best in their stables at Washington Park, Arlington, Hawthorne and Lincoln Fields, and, as was to be expected, the eastern owners carried away the lions share of honors and stake prizes. M. L. Schwartz led the winning owners by a margin of almost two to one as a result of victories of his great three-year-old, Gusto. His stable won 33,050 in the Classic Stakes, American Derby and other events, totaling four victories, five seconds and two thirds. Cornelius V. Whitney had his Equipoise, Top Flight and others of less renown here, but with thirteen victories, thirteen seconds and ten thirds, he was unable to approach the Schwartz winnings, his total for second place amounting to 5,725. W. R. Coe, with a fine lot of young racers which won seven races and an equal number of Lbth seconds and thirds, took down 7,090. Coes biggest winner was the young star Ladysman, vhich made his start in Illinois and continued his winning on through the New York season. The North-way Stable, with its surprise package of the season, Plucky Play, the horse which defeated Equipoise and Faireno, won fourth place. The list of notables goes on Audley Farm Stable, with its Gallant Knight, which made a fine comeback but had to be retired again early in the season; Late Date, Hilena and others; Mrs. J. H. Whitney, with Stepen-fetchit and Crowning Glory; Belair Stud, with Faireno; W. C. and E. W. Reichert, with two of the turfs perennials, My Dandy and Brown Wisdom. A. A. Baroni won a high place in the ranks of winning owners during the summer, even though he did not have a star that rated with the great stake winners mentioned. His remarkably successful stable won 4,-950, most of it in small amounts, these horses accounting for twenty-six victories, twenty-four seconds and eight thirds. None of the other leading owners won near so many races, the nearest being the Audley Farm Stable, with twenty victories, sixteen seconds and eighteen thirds. There are others that took a more or less important part in the big time racing in this state, although the entire list cannot be named. G. D. Widener had his Jamestown, Finite and Evening at Arlington Park and this trio attracted considerable attention. Knebelkamp and Morris raced their Spanish Play with some success and the meetings between this handicap star and the Shady Brooks Pittsburgher were exciting events. A. Bartelstein brought to Chicago the California sensation, Polydorus, and won with him. W. S. Kilmer raced, among others, the sterling filly, Suntica. The several visits of the co-champion of the three-year-olds, Faireno, attracted wide attention and although he failed in his principal effort in the Classic Stakes, his victory in the Hawthorne Handicap put the Belair Stud up with the leading owners. A. C. Bostwick had his great racer of 1931, Mate, in action here again and, of course, competing with Equipoise and the best handicap horses in Illinois, but Mate has been a failure this year and got little or nothing for his efforts in the West. The Greentree Stable was not conspicuously represented. Max Hirsch had a stable of good horses running here most of the season as did Benny Creech, with his Dr. Freeland, and S. W. Labrot, with his good mare, Tred Avon, and Springsteel. Mrs. S. H. Fairbanks gave the Arlington Park fans one of the greatest shocks when her Gold Step, a sprinter which had upset more than one well-made plan, won the Arlington Inaugural from Polydorus, Epithet, My Dandy and Jamestown. Mrs. V. M. Duncan had one of the most consistent of the summer performers in Little America, and Mrs. L. Connor brought back the once good western handicap horse, Pigeon Hole, as a plater, but the most successful one through a protracted period on the Hawthorne and Lincoln Fields tracks. J. W. May introduced to Chicago the good Master Charlie colt, Charleigh, with great success until he began to aim too high in the handicaps. The Warm Stable had Epithet and The Nut successfully engaged. W. Dupont, Jr., shipped White Clover II. from the East. E. R. Bradley won races but .had no outstanding stars competing. The western owners were, in fact, in almost total eclipse so far as the largest winnings were concerned. The following table shows the ten leading .owners, according to money earned;. Owner. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Amt. Schwartz, M. L 4 5 2 33,050 Whitney, C. V ...13 13 10 75,725 Coe, W. R : 7 7 7 57,090 Northway Stable 12 9 9 55,350 Audley Farm Stable.... 20 16 18 54,340 Whitney, Mrs. J. H. ... 9 5 9 32,825 Belair Stud 1 1 0 29,950 Shandon Farm 18 18 11 25,275 Baroni, A. A. 26 24 8 24,950 Reichert, W. C. and E. W.ll 12 8 23,350 TEN LEADING HORSES. Gusto reached the peak of his 1932 campaign when he won the Classic Stakes, the richest of all for three-year-old, in which his arch rival, Faireno, was unplaced, but this was not his only conquest on the Chicago tracks, for on his first invasion of western territory, he won the American Derby. Thus, he stood out, in the West, at least, as the greatest tl-rce-year-old of the year. In addition to winning these features for those of his age exclusively he ventured out with the handicap champion, Equipoise, and finished second to that great Whitney star in the Arlington Gold Cup. These three races were worth considerably more to him than was won by any other two horses that raced in Illinois, a total of 28,800. Of this, he won 6,600 in the Classic Stakes, 8,200 in the American Derby and ,000 for his share in the Arlington Gold Cup. In the Derby, Gusto led W. R. Coes Oscu-lator by two lengths and a half, and in the Classic he was three lengths ahead of Step-enfetchit, the second horse, at the finish, so there was not the slightest doubt that he was the best horse on either occasion. Equipoise, the second money horse in Illinois racing, could not possibly match the Gusto total since the features for the three-year-olds were by far the most valuable. He won 6,600 in the Stars and Stripes Handicap, the Arlington Gold Cup, the modestly valued Delavan Handicap and for his second in the Arlington Handicap, in which he was beaten by Plucky Play. Equipoise had an eventful season in Illinois, winning thousands for his owners, meeting defeat when it was least expected, and smashing the worlds record for the mile. This was in the Delavan Handicap, at Arlington Park, June 30 when, with 128 pounds up, he won by three lengths in the time of 1:34. The only other starters were Jamestown and Spanish Play. Jamestown, with 118 up, set the pace and ran the three-quarters in 1:09. Equipoise then started in the Stars and Stripes, at a mile and an eighth, on a heavy track, and his margin of victory was three-quarters of a length over Tred Avon. The Arlington Gold Cup field consisted of Equipoise, Gusto and Mate, and that is how they finished. Equipoise won by four lengths. In the Arlington Handicap Equipoise carried 134 pounds. He was fractious at the post, got away slowly and tired under the excessive weight. Plucky Plays victory in this race, which was worth 2,000 to the winner, enabled him to take third place in the list of money winners and he finished his Illinois campaign just a little behind Equipoise in earnings, for his defeat of Equipoise was not the only accomplishment of this conqueror of champions. In the Hawthorne Gold Cup he again surprised the racing world by defeating Faireno, Mate and Gusto. So the Northway Stable added all of these eastern- ers to his list of celebrated victims which, last year, included the champion money-winner Sun Beau. Ladysman, W. R. Coes winner of the Hopeful Stakes and other juvenile features at Saratoga, began his series of victories on a Chicago track; in fact, he made his first start in the Hyde Park Stakes, going to the post at nearly 100 to 1 in the betting. He met with interference and failed to get a part of this stake, but the next time out, in a maiden event, he was favorite and won easily. Then he captured the first Arlington Futurity, winning by four lengths from Technique. This was worth the princely sum of 8,010. Faireno war a busy traveler between New York and Chicago late in the season. After winning the Dwyer and Belmont Stakes in the East he was shipped to Arlington Park for the Classic Stakes, going to the post second choice to Top Flight. He and Gusto carried top weight. Fairenos failure in this muddled the three-year-old situation considerably. He reached the front once, but was tiring when he had the misfortune to get into close quarters and he finished eighth in the large field. When he returned to Hawthorne later it was to win the Hawthorne Handicap, which was worth 5,950. Three weeks later he came back to suffer defeat by Plucky Play in the Gold Cup, so a victory and a second was the best he could do in Illinois. Hilena, a two-year-old filly, won the Arlington Lassie Stakes and as a result of this she got into the class of those that won in excess of 0,000 in Illinois. Crowning Glory was one of the early sensations at Arlington Park. He won the Hyde Park Stakes, which was worth 7,350, after capturing an overnight event. Top Flight didnt win a tremendous amount of money in the West, but she did accomplish one thing of note, which was the defeat of G. D. Wideners Evening, which had been widely heralded as a menace to the reign of the turfs princess. This came about in the Arlington Oaks, which the Whitney filly won easily. Top Flight was made favorite, at practically 9 to 5, in the Classic Stakes, but in this she finished fifth. My Dandy, an old favorite, after running many races in fast company, finally rounded to winning form as the season neared its close. His principal victory was in the Illinois Handicap, which was worth ,100. He was second to Faireno in the Hawthorne Handicap and he won the Labor Day Handicap at Lincoln Tields from Gallant Sir, one of the most improved of the younger racers. Tred Avon, S. W. Labrots star filly, won the Glen Ellyn Stakes from Late Date and Seven Veils, and the Arlington Matron Handicap from an old rival, Con Amore. Evening was one of the beaten fillies in this field. The following are the ten leading money winning horses on the Illinois tracks in 1932: Horse. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Amt. Gusto 2 1 0 28,800 Equipoise 3 1 0 46,600 Plucky Play... 2 1 0 43,600 Ladysman 2 0 0 38,710 Faireno 1 1 0 29,950 Hilena 2 3 0 24,185 Crowning Glory 2 0 0 18,200 My Dandy 5 5 0 18,000 Tred Avon.... 3 10 15,365 Top Flight 1 0 0 13,475 TEN LEADING JOCKEYS. - T. P. Martin was in great demand on the Illinois tracks this summer, and he experienced a most successful season, leading all the other riders in this territory by riding ninety-five winners out of 512 mounts. He had seventy-three seconds and seventy-three thirds and his average was .19. Martin was kept busy by any number of stables, his mounts including some of the winners sent to the post by E. R. Bradley, H. P. Headley, Oakland Farm Stable and Max Hirsch. M. Lewis, R. Jones and C. Corbett were among the very successful. Some of Lewis mounts sported the colors of owners Bartelstein, Grabner, Keeneland Stud, Coldstream Stud and Shandon Farm. Jones piloted winners for C. V. Whitney, Audley Farm, Superior Stable, Mrs. E. Denemark, Mrs. F. A. Carreaud, Stuyvesant Peabody and Benny Creech. Corbett rode some of the winners of the Three Ds Stock Farm, J. Howard, J. J. OByrne, Everglade Stable and Mrs. M. B. Pryce. Records of the ten leading riders follow: Jockey. Mts. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Jnp. P.C Martin, T. P 512 95 73 59 285 .19 King, C 459 57 65 44 293 .12 McLaren, J 200 41 28 26 105 .20 Lewis, M.. 229 36 35 34 124 .16 Jones, R.... 235 34 38 31 132 .14 Corbett, C .223 33 21 27 142 .15 Smith, J. W 267 32 38 24 173 .12 Calvert, M.......161 29 18 17 97 .18 Neel, J 382 28 29 48 277 .07 Beck, A ..104 27 14 15 48 ,26 TEN LEADING TRAINERS. C. E. Davisons success in the late stages of the Sportsmans Park meeting enabled him to nose out A. A. Baroni for the lead in trainer honors. Baronis almost phenomenal success with his stable of platers put him in the lead until the last few days of the season. He saddled twenty-seven winners, practically all on his own account. Others that rank high are R. T. Watts, J. Howard, B. Parke, J. J. Greely and J. D. Mikel. The leading ten follow: Trainer Wins Trainer Wins Davison, C. E 29 Greely, J. J 19 Baroni, A. A 27 Mikel, J. D 19 Watts, R. T 25 Hurley, W 16 Howard, J. 22 Lewis, W 16 1 Parke, B 20 Spence1 K. . . .15


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800