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PREDICT 115 NOMINATIONS Expect Record Number of Eligibles for Santa Anita Handicap. Bemoval of 130 Pound Top Weight Restric- : tion Seen as Reason for Increase in Entries. ARCADIA, Calif., Nov. 25. That 115 nominations will probably be made before the : closing date next Thursday, December 1, and that the starting field March 4 will likely number thirty for the 00,000 added Santa Anita Handicap, comprise the preliminary survey submitted to general manager Charles H. Strub of the Los Angeles Turf Club by racing secretary Webb A. Everett; The principal reason set . forth for the marked increase in nominations and the number of starters is the new handicapping policy in effect for the coming season. The change in policy was publicly made known last year and the details were outlined in the following announcement by the Los Angeles Turf Club last April: "A top-weight of 130 pounds for races at Santa Anita will no longer be kept in effect. Assignment of weights will be left solely to the judgement of the racing secretary or handicapper. This does not mean that it will be compulsory to place more than 130 pounds on a horse, but if in his good judgment it is necessary for him to do so, it shall be his privilege. This shall apply to the Santa Anita Handicap, as well as other races making up the seasons program." INCREASE EACH YEAR. The nominations for the Santa Anita Handicap have increased each season since the classic was first run in 1935. Last year they totalled ninety-three, with eighty-eight in 1937, eighty-two in 1936, and seventy in 1935. The starting fields have been twenty in 1935, fifteen in 1936, eighteen in 1937, and. eighteen in 1938. The survey for this season gives the following estimates: 115 nominations at 00 $ 11,500 Thirty starters at ,000 30,000 Added by Los Angeles Turf Club 100,000 Extra prize to winning trainer. 10,000 Total 51,500 The division of the stakes provide 0,000 for the second horse, 0,000 to third horse, ,000 to fourth horse, and the balance to j the winning horse. I I Out at Santa Anita Park the stage is j being set to close the nominations for the Santa Anita Handicap, as well as the Santa Anita Derby next Thursday, and thus will hand started another brilliant chapter to the worlds richest turf stakes. General manager Charles H. Strub, from a preliminary survey furnished him by racing secretary Webb A. Everett, reports that the number of top flight horses to be made eligible may run to the record number of 115 and that in that event the starting field on March 4, may go as high as thirty. The Los Angeles Turf Club will follow turf practice again in not announcing the nom- j ! inatipns until December 7, in order to per- j mit all mailed entries, postmarked by midnight, on December 1, a chance to get in. The next move in the big rajce and a most important one from the standpoint of owners and trainers will be the posting of weights on December 15. And then follows the conditioning and bringing the candidates up to the going before the race, when they must put up 50 to pass the entry post and an additional. 50 on the day of the race to go to the post. HISTORY OF SANTA ANITA HANDICAP. At one and one-quarter miles. 1935 Azucar, 117, G. Woolf; Ladysman, 117; Time Supply, 118; seventy nominations, twenty starters; gross to winner, 09,500. Time, 2:02. 1936 Top Row, 116, W. D. Wright; Time Supply, 114; Rosemont, 116; eighty-two nominations; fifteen starters; gross to winner, 05,700. Time, 2:04. 1937 Rosemont, 124, H. Richards; Seabis-cuit, 114; Indian Broom, 116; eighty-eight nominations; eighteen starters. Gross to the winner, 1,800. Time, 2:02. 1938 Stagehand, 100, N. Wall; Seabiscuit, 130, G. Woolf; Pompoon, 120; ninety-three nominations; eighteen starters. Gross to the winner, 2,550. Time, 2:01. Track record. 1939 Estimated nominations, 115; starters, 30; winners gross, 06,500. Second money increased to 0,000; third, 0,000; fourth, ,000.
