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Nelson Dunstan REFLECTIONS Bv Nelson Dunstan Worlds Richest Race Meet at Chi Washington Park Ready for Opening Five 50000 Events Top Program To Try Out Seven Stewards Plan At Washington Park you watch the vans coming in with wellknown horses being unloaded hour after hour There seems no end of arrivals and it is a foregone conclusion that the 900 stalls will be filled with the few hundred at Lincoln Fields also in use when the rich 67day ArlingtonWashington meetings get under way at the Homewood course next Monday From any angle it appears as if the meet ings will be highly successful In fact judging by the class of horses the purse dis ¬ tribution and the enthusiasm of fans it looms as 67 days that will write a brilliant chapter of racing in Chicago To say that Alsab Whirl away Count Fleet Ocean Wave and Occupation will compete is not enough for not within our recollection has so many name horses and champions gathered in the Windy City to strive for purses that range from 1500 up Bigger Purses for Better Horses is just one of the slogans for these meetings which promise to grip the sustained interest of the nations racing fans For competition will be keener than ever before and especially so when the handicap stars and threeyearolds battle it out for the rich prizes that highlight the meetings from June 21 to September 6 No less than 37 stakes will be run during the 67 days Recently Ben Lindheimer announced that three of the events with 30000 in added money had been raised to 50000 thus with the two already calling for that figure making five 50000 added events in all These three events are the Stars and Stripes Handicap on July 5 the Arlington Handicap on July 31 and the Washington Park Handi ¬ cap on September 6 It is a known fact that Ben Jones will be satisfied if Whirlaway should earn 150000 this season The remarkable part of it is that a horse could earn this entire sum without moving off the Chicago track The task would by no means be an easy one for Alsab and other stars in the older division will be ready to contest every inch for these three pots of gold Count Fleet too will have an opportunity to enhance his earn ¬ ings by two 50000 events for the Classic on July 24 and the American Derby on August 28 both carry that sum in added money Occupation will renew his feud with The Count in the Classic and Ben Jones is pointing Ocean Wave for that July 24 event There is a question in the minds of some whether Occupation can hold his speed over the one and onequarter miles route The Classic holds the answer There is no doubt that Ocean Wave winner of the Blue Grass Stakes and Derby Trial will like the added distance Despite the rich purses for threeyearolds and older horses the stakes program is studded with attractive races for juveniles To mention jusL three of the events the To000 Arlington Lassie Stakes on JuIy S the 20000 Arlington Futurity on July 17 and the 20000 Washington Park Futurity on September 4 No less than 92 made final eligibility payments for the Lassie and among them Whirlette full sister to Whirlaway and other royallybred babes who in years to come will play their part fh the breeding picture of this country The Arlington Futurity has long drawn the best twoyearolds in the land and this year is no exception Calumet Farm has seven named and it is no secret that Ben Jones has high hopes for Pensive a beautifullybred chestnut colt by Hyperion Penicuik n There are other events for colts and fillies and as in years gone by the class of ArlingtonWashington Park meetings will see the midwest juvenile situation cleared to the point where the best will be ready to go East for the rich Futurities that generally lead to championship Occupation won both the Arlington and Washington Park Futurities only to have Count Fleet snatch the laurels in the East Bigger Purses for Better Horses is not the only innovation at the combined Chicago meetings This year instead of stewards and patrol judges Ben Lindheimer will have seven stewards all of whom will have equal voice in the matter of decisions It took courage to make this change as do all changes which are a departure from racing tradition We are determined to make improvements wherever possible Lindheimer says and to do so experimentation is often necessary We are going to give this plan a full trial and believe it will work out to the advantage of all concerned They also have a slogan The Best Horses of All Answer Chicagos Post Call but as stated above one has only to glance at the stake entries to realize that the combined meetings will draw the best horses in the country Beyond all this they are determined to put over to the public that honesty is the backbone qfthe sport and that their meetings will be conducted to further that point That was the thought behind the seven stewards One will be at the starting point and the others at strategic places around the track Jockeys will realize they are being closely observed and should watch their step as a result resultAt At long last the Post and Paddock devotees get a break at Washington Park The newly alloted area set aside for those of the rotogravure section is smack on the finish line at the Homewood course We have often wondered why the aristocracy have so patiently suffered in what is usually the most illpositioned spot at some race tracks to view the running of races True many of the swank Turf and Field Clubs have their parasoled tables and adjacent rhododendron in bloom to help while away the time until the horses have thundered past the wire Now under the mildly ambitious plans of general manager John D Jackson Mr and Mrs Swank from the North Shore have attained the ambition of all racing fans by being treated to the finest vantage point of all With strict wartime economy there has risen a nicely rassplotted area plus an indoor clublike atmosphere supplemented with adequate catering facilities There they will face the unsaddling area and weighout scales and the tiny reinsmen will parade by them as they exit after each running With the new setup for the stewards no one will line the rail or finish line to mar their view
