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FAIRMOUNT OPENS MONDAY Spring Meeting of 31 Days Racing Begins at Collins ville, May 30. Plenty of Good Horses and Jockeys Assured — Improvements Include New "Tote" Board and Photo Finish Camera. COLLINSVILLE, 111., May 25.— Thoroughbred lacing returns to beautiful Fairmount Park next Monday, Decoration Day, for a spring session of thirty-one days under conditions which point to a campaign every bit ] as brilliant as the highly successful 1937 fall meeting. With the same management, headed by D. C. Burnett in charge, an abundance of good stables and jockeys are on the scene, the plant itself in refreshing shape and business conditions encouraging, everything is set, and with no counter attraction in nearby St. Louis on the inaugural day, officials are anticipating a record throng to usher in the king of sports. Among the outstanding stables which will have their colors on display during the meeting are Norman "Butsey" Hernandez, Mrs. R. J. Murphy, J. Chesney. F. Seremba, B. P. Woodson, A. G. Tarn and J. C. Ellis. Many of these prominent establishments are scheduled to have entrants in the six furlongs opening feature, the Memorial Day Handicap GOOD RIDING MATERIAL. The flashy Willie Lee Johnson, second to Johnny Adams for the national riding title J last year, will defend his local championship, but his task appears harder than it was before, with such satellites as Sammy "Tex Williams, Bobby Morris, Melvin Knight, Willie McCadden, Bobby Mason, Joe Dyer i and others to offer competition. Williams I is one of the apprentice sensations of the season and starred last winter at Hialeah | Park. In an effort to spur the jockeys to their j finest efforts, A. J. Gallant, prominent St. I Louis jeweler and sportsman, is again do- | nating a beautiful wrist watch to the cham- | pion rider. The watch, a 17-jewel Benrus special, will be decided on a point basis, a j jockey getting ten points for a first, four for a second and two for a third. Four new improvements will be introduced during the coming Fairmount Park meeting and are expected to be popularly received by fans. A new parking lot directly across from the track has been laid out, accommodating 5,000 cars, as many as the regular grounds ana boosting the total capacity to 10.000 ma- j chines. A new odds board believed to be the I longest in the country at 111 feet has been erected, with larger letters and numerals ■ and more legible than before. A new and improved Thomas photo finish camera will be in operation, clicking pictures at the rate of 240 a second, almost twice as fast as last fall, and supplying prints in the quick time of a minute and a half. A projection screen has been set up underneath the grandstand in connection with the camera, supplying enlarged pictures of every photo finish. The pictures will be six by four feet. LANDSCAPE ARTISTRY. To top off these improvements, landscape artists have dressed up the plant until it is unrecognizable over last fall. With the various flowers and shrubbery in full bloom, surrounded by neatly manicured lawns, the track really earns its sobriquet, "Show Place of Southern Illinois." Those popular betting features, the "Daily Double" and Quinella, which have been a feature of previous Fairmount Park meetings, will be revived again during the coming thirty-one-day campaign starting Decoration Day, according to general manager D. C. Burnett. There will be eight races daily, with first post time 2 oclock. A total of fifteen special days for adjacent towns has already been programmed, with more expected to be closed before the opening. Among the new towns in the fold this spring are Carbondale and Wood River. Highway facilities to Fairmount Park this spring are the best in the tracks history. The route leading direct to the oval is the four-lane No. 40, and Burnett expects many Ulinoisans in the throng taking advantage of inspection day next Sunday, a day before the official opening.
