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iA;- wvtI REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan Beautiful Arlington Park Opens Today Vote on Illinois Take Was 73 to 69 Monmouth Opens Gates on Wednesday Brooklyn Handicap Ends Aqueduct Meet NEW YORK, N. Y., June 15. There will be two important changes in the Chicago racing map this week, with Arlington Park opening in Chicago and Monmouth Park inaugurating the New Jersey season when it throws throws open open its its gates gates to to the the public public Wednes- iA;- wvtI throws throws open open its its gates gates to to the the public public Wednes- Wednesday. In Chicago the Clang Handicap will be i the first fixture during the sixty-seven days of the combined meetings at Arlington and Washington Parks, which will be highlighted I by 36 stake events, including many of the most famous and richest run on the American turf. The Windy City actually has become a melting pot of champions, for, from the East Coast and the West Coast many of the "name" horses of the land are now assembled for what promises to be keen competition petition in in all all divisions. divisions. Armed, Armed, who who has has won won petition in in all all divisions. divisions. Armed, Armed, who who has has won won six stake eents to date this year, is nominated for four of the 0,000 races to be contested there. Assault, the "Triple Crown" winner, undoubtedly will be seen in the Classic and the American Derby, and sometime during the meeting Jet Pilot, undefeated two-year-old from the East, will meet Preoccupy and others who will contest the championship of their division. To list all of the famous horses who will be seen during the 67 days at the two tracks would require a column or two. In Illinois yesterday the General Assembly voted 143 to 2 to place before the people next November the proposition of issuing 85,000,000 in bonds to finance a state bonus for 915,000 veterans of World War II. An amendment to strike out the additional tax on pari-mutuel betting and cigarettes failed of passage by four votes 73 to 69 so it can be seen that racing has many friends among those who frame the laws In Illinois. There is no doubt that the electorate will approve the bonus for veterans, but it is a short-sighted policy to increase the tax on racing. The effect can only be harmful. The people of Illinois, starting Monday, will see the finest horse racing offered In this country. Additional taxes will lower the quality of the sport, with the resultant loss of popularity and revenue to the state. Racing cannot be maintained on a high level when burdened with high taxes. Eventually increased levies will defeat the very purposes for which they are exacted. New Jersey racing will enter a new era when Monmouth Park opens for the 28 days of racing at the new Oceanport track. For the past three years Garden State Park, In Camden, has been the lone track in the Skeeter State, but Monmouth will usher in what promises to be a 1946 season of high-class racing in the state across the Hudson. Due to bad weather hindering construction, a postponement from Monday, June 10, to Wednesday, June 19, was necessary. Although the track will not be complete, it will be obvious to those who attend Wednesdays opening that within another year the new track will compare in beauty with the best In the country and carry on the traditions of the old Monmouth Park, where the finest racing to be found was staged some 60 years ago. Unfortunately the Monmouth opening comes on the same day when the greatest heavyweight boxing matches of all time will be held in New York. Monmouth will suffer as a result, but as time goes on that will be but an incident, for in the weeks to come racing fans will read and hear much about the new track located between Red Bank and Long Branch in the state of New Jersey. Aqueduct goes into its last week with three important stake events still to be contested, namely, the 0,000 Great American on Wednesday, the 0,000 Gazelle on Thursday and the 0,000 Brooklyn Handicap on Saturday. In recent days there nave been many shifts of horses from one locality to another. Armed, after winning the Suburban, left for Chicago, thus giving those he had defeated a chance to fight it out in the Brooklyn Handicap. Jet Pilot, Cosmic Bomb and still others also have moved on to Chicago, so the Great American could develop into a duel between Colin MacLeods Useless and A. T. Simmons Eternal War, who finished second and third, respectively, to Jet Pilot in last Wednesdays running of the Tremont. The Gazelle, for three-year-old fillies and at a mile and a sixteenth, should develop into one of the best races for members of that division and sex to be seen in New York this season. Among those nominated were Bonnie Beryl, Hypnotic, Bridal Flower, Challadette, Rytina, Mush Mush, Earshot and still others who have shown well to date. Beaugay is an eligible, but, as the two-year-old champion of 1945 is at Arlington Park, New Yorkers probably will not have an opportunity of seeing her in action until the fall season. The 0,000 Brooklyn Handicap closed with 52 nominations and, from all indications, a good-sized field will answer the bugle for the final stake event of the Aqueduct meeting. Three-year-olds will come into the picture again next Saturday, with Delaware Park in the East staging the 2,500 Diamond State Stakes, at a mile and a furlong, and Hollywood Park in the West featuring the 5,000 Cinema Handicap, at one and one-sixteenth miles. Featured one week after the Cinema will be the 5,000 Haggin Stakes, for two-year-olds foaled in California. Arlington Park will give the three-year-old fillies their first opportunity of the meeting on the week-end, when the 5,000 Princess Doreen Stakes will be renewed, along with the 0,000 Hyde Park Stakes, for two-year-olds. The Delaware Park race has drawn many of the best three-year-olds in training, but just which of them will answer the bugle is a question. Assault is one of the eligibles, but it is doubtful that trainer Max Hirsch will send the champion to Wilmington for this race. The Maine Chance Farm colorbearers will have moved on to Chicago, as also will William Helis Rippey, winner of the Derby Trial. Fox-catcher Farms Hampden appears to be a certain starter, and, we daresay, Mahout and Natchez will carry the colors of Mrs. Walter Jeffords. Marine Victory, Master Bid, Blue Falcon and still others are on the list, and it now appears that some eight will answer the bugle for this race.
