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Lincoln Fields Meeting Opens Today; WrightChallenges All With Whirlaway WARREN WRIGHT Silks of Many Ranking Stables To Be Seen at Thirty-Day Meet- Stakes Scheduled for Each Saturday and Memorial Day Offer Purse Distribution of 50,000 Eight Sprinters Named for Grand Crossing Handicap, Inaugural Feature CRETE, 111., May 16. The Lincoln Fields Jockey Clubs spring, meeting of 30 days, marking the opening of major track facing, in Illinois for 1942, gets under way Monday afternoon with all signs pointing to a big season. Hundreds of horses are on the scene awaiting the opportunity to enter competition, and from their numbers a splendid inaugural program has been arranged. Limited transportation facilities may present a problem to some, but interest in the return of the sport i to this popular South Side course is running high, and if Lincoln Fields gets its share of good weather attendance anay near record proportions. Lincoln Fields officials have exerted every effort to make the racing attractive here this spring. They have hung up purses totaling nearly a luarter million dollars and this liberal lommitment has brought many of the :ountrys leading stables to Lincoln Fields. A few of the prominent patrons whose thoroughbreds will be seen in action during ihe 30 days of the local meeting are John vlarsch, Herbert M. Woolf, P. A. and R. J. STash, Otto ,W. Lehmann, E. C. A. Berger, Edward and William Janss, Walter H. Hoffman, Jr., Jake Lowenstein, Norman W. Dhurch, Morris Vehon, Roscoe Goose, J. N. Damden, Lou Rowan, Mrs. T. D. Grimes, Mrs. Thelma Ott, Mrs. Marie Evans, Chas. q r. Fisher, J. J. Flanigan, T. C. Piatt and p Prank P. Letellier. Accomplished Jockeys to Ply Trade These and many more have horses here t this spring and most of them have thoroughbreds c of stakes and handicap quality. Further, some of the most accomplished r reinsmen on the turf will ply their professions s here this season. No stake graces the inaugural program, t but five of them are carded, one to be s staged on each of the five Saturdays of t the meeting. The first is the six-furlong Crete Handicap, scheduled for next Saturday, v and then in order will come renewals of the Francis S. Peabody Memorial j Handicap, the Joliet Stakes, the LaSalle j Handicap and, finally, the Lincoln Handicap. The Joliet Stakes is for two-year-olds and the other features for three-year-olds and older horses. Besides these events, each of which is endowed with ,000 in added money, the j Lincoln Fields program embraces numerous overnight features to offer the better j horses plenty of opportunities to keep in , action. The initial program is featured by the Grand Crossing Handicap, a sprint of six . furlongs . which drew a number of nominees for Saturdays Crete Handicap. The Grand Continued on Page Thirty-Six Lincoln Fields Opens Local Major Season Eight Sprinters Clash in Grand Crossing Handicap Continued from Page One Crossing attracted a field of eight and they are well enough matched to assure a stirring contest. Those making up the field are Technician, Pumpgun, Polymelior, Vinum, Equi-star, Book Plate, First of All and Pig Tails. Technician drew top weight of 115 pounds with Pumpgun in at 114. This feature is rounded by seven other races, bringing together well -matched fields. Post time for the first is 2:15 oclock. The racing here this season again will be supervised by capable officials well known to Chicagoans. C. Bruce Head is presiding steward and . with him will sit Samuel H. McMeekin and William Hamilton, the latter representing the Illinois Racing Board. William H. Shelley is the secretary and handicapper and the starting will be in the hands of Reuben White. As for the plant itself, the stands, clubhouse and grounds all have been put in ship-shape order and several improvements and additions have been made for the convenience and comfort of fans. No detail has been overlooked and patrons will find Lincoln Fields more attractive than ever.
