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OPERA STAR WINS BY A NOSE Carries Vehon Colors to Victory in River Forest Purse. Withstands Repeated Challenges From Her Rivals to Take the Main Event at Hawthorne Track Fast. CICERO, 111., Sept. 30. In a fine display of courage and also of speed, Opera Star, owned by Morris Vehon, retired Chicago business man, raced to a smart victory in the River Forest Purse at Hawthorne here this afternoon. After repulsing repeated challenges from several of her rivals, the gray daughter of Victorian and Song Bird crossed the line of finish in front by a nose after having run the six and a half furlongs on a fast racing strip in 1:19. Sly Gal, which had been made favorite over the winner, presented a strong bid in the run through the stretch but Opera Star would not give up and the former had to be content with second money. Dixie Girl, .which also had been in the thick of the fight from the beginning, was third and Elooto fourth, with Allanwood, Moorish and Vassar .completing the field. Dixie Girl and Vassar were the first to test the mettle of Opera Star and after the .Vehon filly shook herself free of these challengers, Sly Gal, which had been forced to race wide, challenged the ultimate winner. Sly Gal finally got the place, a neck before Dixie Girl which, in turn, beat Elooto a length. Opera Star, which was ridden by Kenneth McCombs, was saddled by Jake Lowcnstcin who is enjoying more than ordinary success with his stable this season. The odds against the Vehon filly were a little more than 3 to 1. LARGE ATTENDANCE. The largest crowd of the week attended the sport which was presented under conditions that couldnt have been bettcr had they been ordered. After Drombo had carried the stables colors to victory earlier in the afternoon, Chief Menteur completed a double for Mrs. A. K. Weast by defeating eleven other sprinters in the Hubbard Woods Claiming Purse, a dash of six furlongs offered as the fifth race and the sccondai-y attraction. The veteran, but consistent Drombo, which races for Mrs. A. K. Weast, hung up his sixth victory of the year in the third event, .and those who supported him in the mutuels received 0.60 for . Believed to be strictly a mud runner, Drombo, ridden by T. P. Martin, surprised by showing the way over almost the entire six and a half furlongs of the contest, to get a nose decision at the wire. Boston Sound, which raced in second position virtually all the way, showed a tendency to bear in through the stretch or else he might have been able to reverse the order of finish. Star Bess was third. Apprentice Jimmy Ashcroft rode his first winner for his new employer, P. L. Kclley, when he guided that horsemans Mister Jacko to a narrow victory in the fourth, a test of a mile and seventy yards. At the same time Ashcroft brought his total number of winners for the meeting to twenty-two, putting him in the lead among the local .riders, temporarily at least.
