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- - - l KjflHH I REFLECTIONS By Nelson Dunstan Monmouth Park Opens at Oceanport Today When Completed, Track Will Rank With Best New Jersey Racing Has Made Fine Progress Futurity Designed to Encourage Breeders NEW YORK, N. Y., June 18. On July 4, 1870, Monmouth Park, in New Jersey, opened for what later was to be the most colorful race track in the country. Now Monmouth Park, at Oceanport, opens tomorrow for what promises promises to to be be a a new new and and brilliant brilliant era era of of the the - - - l promises promises to to be be a a new new and and brilliant brilliant era era of of the the thoroughbred sport in the state across the Hudson. Tomorrows feature will be the 0,-000 added Colleen Stakes, a race for two-year-old fillies, at five and one-half furlongs. Before the meeting closes on July 20 they will run the New Jersey Futurity, Omnibus Handicap, Lamplighter Handicap, Monmouth Oaks, Monmouth Handicap and still other races with names which bring back to the turf events which were contested there some 75 years ago. In the past few months the management managemenc has nas had had its its trials trials and and tribula- tribula- management managemenc has nas had had its its trials trials and and tribula- tribula- KjflHH tions in an effort to have the construction completed. But, after one postponement, the meeting now gets under way, and, with just a little vision, those who attend the opening soon will see that when another year rolls around this will be one of the really beautiful tracks in the East, With its beauty it promises a brand of sport that will be a credit to New Jersey and the American turf. On Saturday, July 20, the feature race at Monmouth Park will be the 5,000 Monmouth Handicap, for three-year-olds and older horses, at a mile and a quarter. This race, in its importance, compares with the old Monmouth Cup, one renewal of which will be recorded as long as turf history is written. At two and one-half miles, it was staged on July 2, 1872, and, like many races of that day, was an intersectional contest between the East and the West. In the year that Monmouth opened, or in 1870, Harry Bassett was the king of eastern thoroughbreds. Down in Kentucky there was the famous horse Longfellow, and when Uncle John Harper, owner of the latter, heard that Harry Bassett was "unbeatable," he promptly issued a challenge on behalf of his horse. Longfellow won from Harry Bassett in hollow fashion, and it was then that the two horses went to Sara- toga to settle their differences. On this occasion Harry Bassett was" the winner, but there was an excuse for Longfellow, as he twisted a plate during the running of the race and at the finish as he practically stood on three legs he was proclaimed one of the gamest thoroughbreds that ever lived. Harry Bassett and Longfellow were but two of the famous horses to race at the old Monmouth Park. Tom Ochiltree, Tre-mont and that great trio of New Jersey-breds, Fashion, Wanda and Dew Drop, all raced there. Today there is a race on the Monmouth calendar called the Omnibus Stakes and it was in the Omnibus Stakes of 1877 that Hanover met the first defeat of his career. This great son of the immortal Hindoo had won 18 straight races, but it was Laggard, who carried the "all black colors" of D. D. Withers, who set him back. Prior to 1889, such great fillies as Miss Woodford, Wanda and Dew Drop had won the Monmouth Oaks and among the eligibles for the new Monmouth Oaks, to be run on July 17, are many of the best three-year-old fillies now in training. With the turn of the century, racing had passed from the New Jersey scene and that was mainly due to the revival of the sport at Saratoga. Many fans are now asking if the revival of racing in New Jersey may not soon be one of the factors in sounding the death-knell of the sport in Saratoga. The recent action of the Board of Supervisors at Saratoga in placing a 5 per cent tax "for the good of the county" is just one of the reasons why racing fans are pessimistic over the future of the sport at the upstate Spa. New Jersey has made rapid strides in thoroughbred racing during the past seven years. It was on June 20, 1939, that a constitutional referendum legalizing pari-mutuel wagering was passed by a majority of 156,127. It was significant at that time that those in Monmouth County were strongly in favor of horse racing for when the county vote was taken, 23,357 had voted for the sport as against 5,128 opposed. The New Jersey Racing Commission set rigid standards and the first to meet all the requirements was Garden State Park at Camden. Working against a governmental deadline for construction, this track was completed on June 6, 1942. Garden State Park opened on July 18, 1942 and from that day to this, the high-class manner, in which it has been conducted and the type of sport it has offered has made it one of the most successful racing plants in the country. Following Garden State, there were many applications for a license to operate a race track in New Jersey, but not until the coming of Monmouth Park and then Atlantic City did the state racing commission put its stamp of approval on requests for licenses. History will be written when Monmouth Park opens tomorrow and is followed by the attractive meeting which will succeed it at Atlantic City, so often called "the playground of America." On Wednesday, June 26, Monmouth Park will stage the first running .of the 0,000 added New Jersey Futurity, a race designed for two-year-olds foaled in the state of New Jersey. While some people decry the events which are limited to horses foaled in one state, it is a fact that they encourage successful men to open farms in their own state, even though they do not add anything to the so-called "improvement of the breed." These races serve a very worthy purpose, as has been clearly demonstrated in the state of California. It was surprising when the New Jersey Futurity closed on May 15 that no less than 46 youngsters foaled in New Jersey were named. Sons and daughters of Jack High, Case Ace, Easton, Rhodes Scholar, Hard Tack, Neddie, Pilate and other successful stallions have been named for the race and have been nominated by such fine racing people as Brandy-wine Stable, Brookmeade Stable, John C. Clark, John Hertz, William Helis, Mrs. W. H. LaBoyteaux, J. M. Roebling, Woodland Farm, Mrs. L. E. Stoddard Jr. and others too numerous to mention. Considering the tv o-year-olds named and their nominators, the race is a very worthy addition to an attractive stakes program.
