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BIG CROWD VISITS OMAHA Five Thousand Visitors Inspect Ak-Sar-Ben Track 400 Horses Ready for Opening. OMAHA, Neb., May 27. Intermittent showers failed to keep visitors away from Ak-Sar-Ben Sunday when the gates- were thrown open to the public for the final inspection before the opening Thursday. It was estimated more than 5,000 passed through the gates at the local track with some 500 more taking advantage of the associations invitation to come out early and watch horses go through their paces in preparation for their engagements during the coming thirty-one day meeting. In addition to the many horses going through their morning exercise, starter Jack Hodg-ins held his usual schooling hour and this feature probably drew more attention than the other improvements made since the last meeting held at Ak-Sar-Ben in 1929. The track has been at its best since last Friday and trainers have taken advantage of the good weather after encountering rain daily for nearly two straight weeks. The showers Sunday failed to hurt the track and with good weather expected during the weekj track superintendent James Ronin hopes to have the course in as good a condition as it was during former meetings when Ak-Sar-Ben had the reputation of being one of the safest tracks in the country. With only two more days before the opening, chairman W. H. Schellberg, who heads the racing committee, announced every detail had been looked after for the spring meeting and that the association was looking forward to the best meeting in the history of racing in this city. Along with Mr. Schellberg, the racing committee consists of George Brandeis, Bert Murphy, and W. B. Milliard, Jr., and they have worked equally as hard as Mr. Schellberg in bringing horse racing back to Omaha, and putting the sport back to an even greater height than it enjoyed prior to the last meeting six years ago. Racing secretary Gene Bury announced the opening day feature would be raised to ,000 instead of the original purse of 00 and the name has been changed from the Ak-Sar-Ben Inaugural Handicap to the Hotel Greeters Handicap. With the Hotel Greeters Convention coming to a close at Los Angeles, the special train carrying the delegates back east have arranged to stop over at Omaha and take in the sport opening day and this prompted Bury to rearrange his card. The delegates returning east will attend the seven-race program in a body and have already accepted the invitation accorded them by J. J. Isaacson, who is activities manager for Ak-Sar-Ben. Through Monday more than 400 horses have been registered and from applications on file and thoroughbreds coming in every hour, racing secretary Bury is expecting at least 500 to be on the grounds for the opening.
