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JUDGES STAN D bycharles hatton DETROIT, Mich., May 14. — Theres never a dull moment in Middle West racing circles these days. Detroit Fair Grounds introduced its ambitious program here yesterday and on Monday afternoon the Lincoln Fields Club will open at Washington Park with a renewal of its tra- ditional Crete Handicap." The MRAs first card attracted a crowd of 19,363 that wagered 46,-423. An attendance of 26,511 and "tote" action of 59,-219 were reported here on opening day last season, but it hardly is a fair comparision, considering that the 48 meet began on Saturday. Theres no doubt that the tardy delivery of programs fewer than 5,000 by first post made a deep incursion on the play in the Daily Double and the first several races. Then somebody pied a tray of "tote" tickets. But those are the sort of things which occur at all tracks from time to time, and the crowd accepted them philosophically and in good part. The attendance was about as large as Fair Grounds facilities can handle without shutting out some play. The sport itself was good entertainment and this is particularly true of the Curtain Up Handicap in which Joe Goodwins handsome Papa Redbird made a successful comeback..-Johnny Zoeller opened him up three furlongs in :34 and some small change, and jockey Willard Cook said after the race that "Old Pop is really sharp." A glance at the board made it pretty obvious for 1:11 flat was a good run over the track. Among others he beat Piet, who had just dusted off Rippey and other crack sprinters over East. Probably New Yorkers will see Papa Redbird after one or two more races here. AAA Sportsmans neared its close with play approximating that of a year ago, and, indeed, the crowds were up about 4 per cent last time we looked. Naturally, this is at-; all very encouraging to Pete ODonnell, who has set the stage for the opening of Lincoln-at-Washington on Papa Redbird Take a Bow in Curtain Up Lincolns Crete Tests Speed Specialists Club Samples Public Preference in Races Go Jeep Go Repatriates Dam From Cuba Monday. "I only hope were fortunate enough to have some good weather," he said today. "There seems to be plenty of interest and horses, with an overflow stabled but at Lincoln Fields." With Pleasure, who is an old Chicago favorite, is to set out on the comeback trail in the Crete, which is Mondays opening feature. Other popular entertainers in this six furlongs are Delegate, Happy Issue and Enforcer. It has all the elements of a sharp contest and a good betting race. The result of the Derby seems to have helped the clubs out here in the Middle West, for it made Johns Joy, Ky. Colonel, Lextown and other available for events such as Lincolns Peabody Memorial and Detroits Motor City Stakes. The Rice horses now are at Washington for the Lincoln meet, and probably will be joined soon by the three-year-old Model Cadet. By the way, the work of renovating Lincolns own park has been temporarily interrupted by the presence of horses training there, but it will be resumed before many weeks. AAA Lincoln will renew all its stakes at their 48 values, and we note that the purse minimum is to be maintained at ,300. "Larry Bogenschutz book proved very suitable for the horses at our meet last summer," ODonnell said, "and I think horsemen will find it equally satisfactory this season." By the way, ODonnell has made some interesting studies of the play on races for horses of various ages and classifications. For one thing, he notes the public reacts quite differently to two-year-old races in different areas. Lincoln crowds have not seemed particularly enthusiastic about them, except for two-year-olds of stakes class. This is to us rather odd, con sidering that they are at least as formful as races for older horses, and often more formful. That is true at New York tracks, Keeneland, Hialeah and other points. The trend in the Middle West is toward more races for two-year-olds. AAA Go Jeep Go is a prospect for the Lansing here, at Detroit next Wednesday. This youngster and others of the first crop by War Jeep that have come to the races have resulted in a considerable demand for seasons to the Maine Chance stallion. Visiting with Les Combs at Spendthrift near Lexington a few days ago, we learned that there are 62 applications for War Jeeps services next spring. As the story goes, Go Jeep Go has repatriated his dam, a mare called Ill Go Far. She was sold for ,300 at the 1947 Keeneland Fall Sales, and nobody could think where she had gone when Go Jeep Go began to run well. So Roscoe Goose was appointed to a searching party, finally found her in Cuba and brought her back. By the way, George Odom, who is a steward here at the Fair Grounds, was interested to know how Busher and her first foal are doing. We had a look at them at Spendthrift, and the great .mares Alibhai filly is developing into a carbon copy of her dam. Busher is quite the connoisseurs item among BIup Grass broodmares. It will be disappointing, not to say surprising, if she doesnt improve the breed. AAA Turf ana: Duke Dahlstrom will be in the stand at Lincoln-at-Washington. . . . Coaltown now is rated the equal of Citation, at 132 apiece, in the Hollywood Cup. . . . Four hundred and sixty two-year-olds are reported at Churchill Downs. . . . Old Toms sire Omission stands at E. K. Thomas Timberlawn this season. . . . Apprentice Jerry West is pacing Downs jockeys. . . . Dale Shaffer will reside here in Detroit this summer. . . . Stud Poker is a prospect for Detroit-Arlington-Washington turf stakes. . . . The MRA is perpetuating the Frontier Stakes, which, was intr6duced in 1902 and is Michigans oldest stake.
