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CLEANING UP AT HOMEWOOD Entries for Seven Washington Park Stakes Close May 1 25000 Added American Derby Stellar At ¬ traction Special Attention Being Paid to Track Proper Washington Park is taking on an air of activity that indicates the nearness of that meeting which opens there May 24 and continues until June 23 inclusive The spacious plant is being given a thorough overhauling and it will present its prettiest picture when the gates are thrown ajar for j the inaugural days sport Special atten ¬ tion is being paid the one and oneeighth miles track and all that is needed to bring it to its best condition in a short while ia a good heavy rain rainEntries Entries for the seven stakes to be run at the Homewood meeting close May 1 and the nominations received to date give evi ¬ dence that they will rank along with pre ¬ vious years from a numerical standpoint It is possible that the pair of twoyearold fixtures the Thomas M Curran Memorial arid the Debutante Stakes may set a new record in this respect as entries for them are coming in at an amazing clip The Cur ran Memorial is fashioned for colts and geldings while only fillies will be eligible to contest the Debutante DebutanteThe The stellar attraction of the Washington Park season the 25000 added American Derby is drawing surprisingly well and a slant at the nominations now on hand re ¬ veals that practically every threeyearold of importance will be made eligible for it Incidentally quite a few not found in the earlier closing stakes have been entered in the rich Homewood affair affairMoving Moving the American Derby ahead one week will not affect the size or class of the field in the least It was found necessary to set the date for June 2 instead of June 9 as originally planned because the Belmont Stakes the Easts leading fixture will be run on the latter date and many of those that are expected to play a prominent part vi the decision of that event are also en ¬ tered in the rich stake here The East is responding nobly to the call for American Derby entries and most of the highly regarded ones from that section will be among those present when the official list of nominations is compiled Like the Kentucky Derby it will be a sectional battle that should furnish plenty of excitement excitementC C W Hay general manager of Washing ¬ ton Park has the preliminary details in connection with the coming meeting well in hand and he is full of optimism regarding the outlook He said that the reservations for boxes and clubhouse accommodations for American Derby Day indicate a capacity crowd upon that occasion and more outof town turf fans have signified their intention of witnessing the big race than for several years past pastWithin Within a few days the stables at the Homewood track will begin to fill track superintendent Tom Young having an ¬ nounced that the oval will be thrown open for training purposes soon after May 1 At the rate applications for stabling facilities are coming in the meeting will find about 1000 horses on hand with more than an abundance of twoyearolds twoyearoldsThe The long distance stake performers will have two opportunities to add to their purse earnings in the Robert M Sweitzer Handi ¬ cap and the Francis S Peabody Memorial Handicap The first named event will find the distance of one and oneeighth miles prevailing while the other calls for a contest over the1 route of one and onequarter miles Both of these stakes are for threeyearolds and over and each has an added worth of 2500 2500In In addition to its monetary worth the Peabody Memorial also carries a valuable trophy donated by Stuyvesant Peabody who is prominently identified with the American turf as a breeder owner and race track ex ¬ ecutive He is a son of the dead sportsman whose memory is honored by the running of this stake stakeOnly Only one sprinting stake for the older di ¬ vision is on the Washington Park roster this being the Washington Park Handicap the feature event that pries the lid off the meeting Its distance is threequarters of a mile and it is endowed with an added worth of 2500 Many of the crack sprint ¬ ers of the midWest have been entered here and as in past years it gives promise of developing into one of the most hotly con ¬ tested races of the season
