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PMLICOS TESTS AT DISTANCES Biggs, Grayson and Bowie Handicaps Decided Over Long Routes. Nominations for Baltimore Stakes Closing Monday at Midnight Seabiscuit Beaten in 1937 Bowie. BALTIMORE, Md., Oct. 5 If, as is often pointed out by the experts, thoroughbred superiority is proved in victories run over a distance of ground, then the Riggs, the Grayson and the Bowie Handicaps at Pimlico this autumn will undoubtedly produce a champion. The races occur in the order mentioned, with the distance for each lengthening from the mile and three-sixteenths of the Riggs, to the mile and a half of the Grayson and finally the gruelling mile and five-eighths of the Bowie. The Riggs and the Bowie each carry rich prizes of 0,000 in added money, While the Grayson is endowed with the added sum of ,500. Nominations for all three events close on Monday, October 3. The Riggs, first run in 1926 and won that year by Crusader, is a tribute to the memory of William Riggs, one of Marylands greatest racing personalities and for many years an official of the Maryland Jockey Club. The 1937 renewal was won by Seabiscuit in his first of two appearances at Pimlico and in winning the event the son of Hard Tack Swing On established a new track record of 1:57 for the distance. NEW STAKE. The Grayson Handicap is a new stakes in the curricula of the Maryland Jockey Club and was named in honor of the late Adm. Cary T. Grayson, a member of the clubs board of directors and nationally known as an important breeder and owner of thoroughbreds and always a staunch supporter of the sport. The Grayson distance of one mile and a half was selected in recognition of a growing demand for distance events and also because it was known that the late admiral always favored such contests. The Bowie Handicap, run regularly from 1909 to 1932 and revived in 1937, is a development of the famous four-mile heats run in the eighteen-seventies when governor Oden Bowie was president of the old Baltimore course. It was originally run at the distance of two miles, later at a mile and three-quarters and finally at a mile and a half before the present distance of a mile and five-eighths was selected. The great mare Esposa, defeating Seabiscuit in a thrilling race last year, established a new track record of 2:45 for the distance. Including Esposas record time in the Bowie the race has seen four track records established, three of which have stood for fourteen years or more. Everetts time of 3:25 for two miles set in 1910, has never been matched. Flying Fairys 3:01 for the mile and three-quarters established in the 1914 renewal still stands and. Altawoods 2:30 for the mile and half at Bowie in 1924 still remains to be equaled or shattered.
