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Tempo Stepped Up at Lincoln Fields Attractive Opening Program Arranged Crack Field of Sprinters Expected to Compete in Grand Crossing Handicap CRETE, 111., May 14.— Registration of stables, checking of nominations for the five stakes which close tomorrow, and a speed-up of preparations for the opening of the 30-day meeting on Monday, occupied the personnel at Lincoln Fields today. The thoroughbred colony here is growing hourly, and now that the beginning of the major racing season in Illinois is just a few days away, horses will be arriving in ever increasing numbers. The offices of the racing secretary this morning were lively with activity as members of secretary William H. Shelleys staff endeavored to register incoming stables as quickly as they appeared on the scene. The tempo of this work will be stepped up even further this week-end, for both Churchill Downs and Sportsmans Park, whose meetings end on Saturday, have yet to contribute heavily to the list of racing establishments which will take part in the Lincoln Fields meeting. Officials of the Crete track report a heavy response to their call for nominations for the five added money features to be staged during the 30-day season here. Nominations were arriving today by every mail, and the last of them may not reach until the beginning of next week. All entries postmarked before midnight tomorrow will be acceptable and since some still are expected from the East they may not reach until the beginning of next week. All entries postmarked before midnight tomorrow will be acceptable, and since some still are expected from the East they may not reach here until Monday. Five Fixtures Carded Each of the stakes is endowed with ,000-in added money, a sum attractive enough to make nominations worthwhile. The first of these features is the Crete Handicap at six furlongs, the second is the Francis S. Peabody Memorial Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth, and then follow the Joliet Stakes at five furlongs, the La Salle Handicap at a mile and three-sixteenths, and, finally, the Lincoln Handicap at a mile and a quarter. The Joliet is for two-year-olds while each of the others is for thoroughbreds three years old and older. They are to be run on [ successive Saturdays. Entries also close tomorrow for the . Grand Crossing Handicap, the six-furlong I feature of Mondays inaugural program. . This race is a test of six furlongs for • three-year-olds and upward, and it will attract a number of sprinters who, the following Saturday, will be running in the ! richer Crete Handicap. Monday normally is an off-day in racing, but Lincoln Fields will present an especially attractive card for its opening. Besides the Grand Crossing Handicap there are two condition races fashioned for the better horses. One is the Chicago Heights Purse, for three-year-olds, at a mile, and the other is the Kensington Purse, for three- and four-year-olds at six furlongs. Yet another event on the first program is a dash of five furlongs, for two-year-olds, which should bring into competition a number of youngsters who later will meet in the Joliet Stakes. The first days program is typical of most of the daily cards scheduled for Lincoln Fields, which is drawing more good horses than has been its fortune in many years. With stable space at such a premium, the - Lincoln Fields Jockey Club has been able to select many of the horses which will race here, and officials of the track have J been careful not to overlook any of the ! better ones. ]
