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r - 1 Here and There on the Turf Jamaica Meeting Promises Well Record Crowds Seem Likely Many Changes Made in Plant Good Session at Del Mar Planned i What undoubtedly will prove New Yorks most successful season In many years opens today at Jamaica, with a renewal of the traditional Paumonok Handicap. The Metropolitan Racing Association has a fair inkling of what the season should be. as indicated by its willingness to add ,500 to the Paumonok. No other sprint in the country is endowed with so much money. With fair weather in order, it will be almost a surprise if Jamaica doesnt handle the greatest opening day crowd in its history. Because of its appealing value, the Paumonok is attracting one of the greatest fields of sprinters ever seen in this country, including older horses which have proven themselves over the short distance, as well as three-year-olds which have hopes of scoring in the classic contests later in the campaign. Three and a half weeks of racing will be staged at Jamaica, with the piece de resistance being the Wood Memorial Stakes for three-year-olds over a mile and seventy yards on May 1. Under bright skies, this event, which precedes the Kentucky Derby one week and may decide the post of favoritism in the latter event, as it has done several times in the past, could very well bring a record crowd to the convenient course on the outskirts of the city of Jamaica. Numerous changes have been made in the plant to better accommodate a larger attendance, and these Improvements most certainly will strike a respondent chord with the public. Interest in the sport is at a higher pitch than has been noted in New York for a long, long time and this will be reflected in greater patronage at the metropolitan tracks, beginning with Jamaica. Seven stakes are on the Jamaica schedule for the twenty-one day meeting, with the Youthful Stakes, Stuyvesant Handicap, Jamaica Handicap, Excelsior Handicap and Hosedale Stakes being the other attractions. The Youthful and Rosedale are for two-year-olds, the latter exclusively for sprinters, and, with ,000 added each, they should draw large fields. It seems a pity that the Jamaica management did not hold down its values and add the difference to events for older horses, which give the public a larger amount of pleasure. Also strange is the fact that the Rosedale, for fillies, follows the Youthful, which is for Juveniles of all kinds oTthe handicaps for older horses only the of six fur-lones, Excelsior is beyond a distance but, with its added purse of 0.000, , a be forthcoming for the good field should mile and one-sixteenth affair. Much work has been done in moderniz ng Jamaica, which ever has been one of the most successful tracks in New York. The grandstand and clubhouse have been Joined and patrons of the former will be treated to Improvements that will make the added expense of entering the enclosure worth while. The program of improvements has included the construction of new quarters for the Judges, stewards and a finish camera on the roof, thus making for better results. Removal of the old judges stand has made room for a special enclosure for the unsaddling of winners. Construction work has resulted in numerous other changes which cannot be appreciated until the public enjoys them for themselves, so whatever the size of the attendance this afternoon, it should be better accommodated than ever before. "Bing" Crosby and his motion picture friends behind the operation of the new Del Mar track arent trying to collar everything that Is important in racing in a single season, so their inaugural meeting of twenty-one days is featured by a ,000 stake. Sponsors of the seaside course that can bn conveniently reached by enthusiasts of Los Angeles and San Diego alike realize that the best horses in the country cannot be attracted for the Inaugural meeting, but that a well conducted meeting at its inception will do much toward establishing permanent popularity. Since legalized wagering on races was established in California the sport has been centered in autumn, winter and spring meetings at Tanforan, Bay Meadows and Santa Anita, but Del Mar will extend the sport into the summer time. Should a good brand of horses be attracted, there Is no reason why Del Mar shouldnt be a better meeting than its promoters anticipate.
