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EASTERN RACING SEASON BEGINS AT BOWIE TODAY t . Outlook Exceedingly Bright for High Class Sport in Maryland Inaugural Handicap Headliner of Fine Opening Day Program of Seven Races Rain of Sunday and Monday, Leaves Track Muddy BOWIE, Md., April 1. The annual turf season in this sector of the Atlantic seaboard will be under way at Prince George Park tomorrow afternoon when Bowie opens its eleven-day spring meeting, with the Inaugural Handicap as the customary attraction on a seven-race program. To say the outlook for the year of sport ahead in Maryland is bright would be expressing it only mildly. Despite the fact that competition in other eastern states will be more severe than in recent seasons, a strong belief exists that the .racing within this commonwealth not only will furnish greater financial sustenance for the four major courses but also provide a higher grade of competition. This is based on the recent tax relief granted by the state lawmakers and now only awaiting the signature of Governor Nice. The burden of operating will not rest so heavily on the shoulders of Bowie, Havre de Grace, Pimlico and Laurel in the future, all of which means these tracks will be able to offer stakes and purses of sufficient attractiveness to draw first-class performers. Rain fell at Bowie Sunday and continued until shortly before noon today, leaving the mile course a sea of mud, with no chance of it being fast for the initial days sport. The five and a half furlongs Inaugural with its prize of ,000 attracted fifteen entries, eight of the lot being sprinters which came to the southern Maryland track fully seasoned through winter racing. WISE PRINCE RATED HIGHLY. Though Ral Parrs Star Porter, a crack-erjack Bowie horse, has the top weight of the Inaugural hopefuls with 118 as his impost, the actual high weight will be Wise Princey under 113. The latter is a three-year-old and will be carrying two less than the scale, while Star Porters package is eight less than scale weight. Despite this, it is more than likely that the son of -Wise Counsellor, which races for his breeder, Felix Spatola, of Philadelphia, will rate the public choice. He has plenty of foot and will favor a soft track, also having solid recent form to recommend him. Wise Prince is the only three-year-old eligible for the event and, if he comes through triumphant, it will be the first score in the race for a horse of that age since Setting Sun took the initial running back in 1923. In fact, only one other three-year-old, Contemplate, has finished in the money in the dozen Inaugurals which have been decided at Bowie. Star Porter is a Maryland horse and a mighty popular one in these parts. He was capable enough to win nine out of sixteen starts last season as a four-year-old, the son of The Porter and Starella being a mighty keen sprinter as long as his weak underpinning does not give trouble. Hes very-partial to a soft track for this reason. Elmer Trueman has had the Ral Parr horse since his first racing days and knows him thoroughly. The Maryland horseman usually has his charges fit and sharp for Bowie spring racing and training reports on Star Porter have been most favorable. A. G. VANDERBILTS PAIR. Marylanders are expected to award considerable backing to Alfred Vanderbilt3 combination of Dogmata and Dreel, two which were fitted at his Sagamore Farm just outside Baltimore. The bearers of the red and white blocked silks also have a great following hereabouts, no little of this being due-to the fact that trainer "Bud" Stotler is a native son and a boy who has made good. Dogmata is a whale of a mud horse and Dreel also shakes a nasty hoof in that sort of going. While little concerning the present condition of the pair is known generally, the fact that Stotler sends forth few short horses in the spring indicates both will turn in good races. Star Porter, Dogmata -and Dreel seem the ones that the winter campaigners will have to beat. Miami racers are well represented on the Inaugural list, with such winners down the line as Ladfield, Black Buddy, Evergold, Night Sprite; Hug Again and Bright Haven being slated to go. Dust Girl also was in Continued on eighteenth page. EASTERN RACING SEASON BEGINS AT BOWIE TODAY Continued from first page. Florida but did not race, while All Forlorn, another entrant, did not run to his best form ? r 5 I r ? 1 in that area. Silent Shot is a standout mud runner which wintered in Maryland, but he does not seem as sharp a sprinter as the trio from the barns of Alfred Vanderbilt and Ral Parr. There are some first rate mud runners listed in the paragraph above, aside from Silent Shot. Ladfield and Evergold are very partial to such going but would fancy a longer route. Black Buddy is an inconsistent sort, though Coucci seems able to make him run. As for the others, the spot seems a trifle too tough. Seven three-year-olds have been entered in the single graded handicip which is down for decision, but they are a useful lot, and the race should prove a worthwhile one from a competitive standpoint. Then there is a four-furlong juvenile sprint for filly .non-winners, which has drawn a limit field and a quartet of claiming affairs. The entries indicate there is no shortage of horses in these parts. Bowie patrons will have their first opportunity to wager on the "Daily Double" tomorrow, and it is anticipated this form of speculation will prove as popular here as It has in many other parts of the land. The bets will be made on individual horses, fielders" and each member of an entry running separately in the pool. The windows will be shut ten minutes before the first race; which is set for 2:30. Dick Pending had the track in excellent shape prior to the heavy rain of Sunday, only this preventing a lightning fast track for the Inaugural. The Bowie superintendent reports that few vaoaut stalls remain, an assurance that the various events should fill well. This, coupled with an abundance of top-class jockeys, points to an excellent beginning for the Maryland season.
