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. ,* Lincoln Fields Notebook By J. J. MURPHY 1 WASHINGTON PARK, Homewood, HI., May 29. — The Edward J. Fleming Memorial Handicap, which will feature the activities _ ■ at the Lincoln Fields meeting this Saturday, was formerly, known as the Steger Handicap. The title was changed with last years running in respect to the memory of one of the former "heads of Lincoln Fields who was highly regarded by his associates. The event had 18 runnings as the Steger and on the last two occasions as the Steger was annexed by Delegate, only double winner of the affair. Lextown, last years victor, has not been named but Prop who finished second is in the field as is Enforcer who was third in 1949. All eight horses starting in the Crete Handicap will be back in the Fleming which will be at the rather unusual distance of six and one-half furlongs. Four-year-olds have dominated the race in thirteen instances while a trio of three-year-olds have been successful. The race closed with 32 nominations. The three-year-old colt Donnie Lee was so badly cut during the. running of the second race last Saturday that he will be on the shelf for some time. He is owned by Mrs. H. L. Nathenson . . Ben Jones was cheered by the victory of Bewitch at Hollywood Park last week- . end. The mare may be in Chicago later in the season . . Card from Jimmy Campbell, 80-year-old ex-jockey and native of San Francisco who has been taking in the races at Belmont Park. . .Paul Kelley, who has some horses here in charge of T. P. Fleming, is expected to arrive from Garden State soon with the McLeannan Handicap winner Gangway and the good turf veteran Stud Poker. . If Royal Mustang runs a good race in the Peabody he may be shipped to New York for the Belmont. There seems to be little chance of his stablemate Bugledrums getting to the post at this meeting. . .Monmouth Park stake books arrived. Meeting opens June 16 with stakes closing June 1. Some of the boys made a trip to Arlington Park last Sunday. State the palatial plant never looked better. . .Liability is one of the better mud runners among the Illinois-bred claiming horses. . .Gibby Kaplan, the Clark Street restaurateur who frequently visits with Dave Felman in the announcers booth, probably knows as many ball and race track celebrities than any man in the cafe business. . Am grateful for the many expressions of sympathy from friends in my recent bereavement. . . Starter Roy Dickerson is expected to commence schooling horses at Arlington Park within the next week or two. . Bill Quinlan has finally completed the painting job on his flagpole. Is thinking of hiring himself out as a brush man, probably the Minne-gan boys could use him . Press associate Maury Shevlin is one of Chicagos better bowlers. The boys have had some trouble filling the entries at this meeting but the situation is not nearly as bad as back in the middle forties when on several occasions Continued on Page Thirty-Seven . — — — — — — — LINCOLN FIELDS NOTEBOOK Continued from Page Three a completed program was not assembled until darkness set in. Which reminds that George Schilling-, the old maestro of the western Canadian circut, when serving as racing secretary at Edmonton many years ago, had a total of 80 horses on the grounds. Race programs were fashioned to suit the majority without consulting the owners. In other words the owners were obliged to explain why their horses should not run when their names appeared on the entry list. Seven six- or seven«-horse events were filled each day and the seven-day session showed a profit. That was 25 years ago and times have changed in the prairie provinces and particularly in Edmonton which is now one of the fastest growing cities in Canada and is rivalling Winnipeg in racing popularity. Genies Mate, a winner in the deep mud here Monday, was the only horse entered on the program to show a superior mud mark in the past performances. Paid 2.60 ...Ralph Lowe, Midland, Texas, oilman, lost his lightweight rider when his contract apprentice Pat Moore was barred from saddle work due to blindness in one eye. As far as we know it is the first such case on record. Moore, who rode his first winner last July, won 55 races during the balance of 1950. In the future it is highly probable that the Illinois Racing Board will require that all jockeys be submitted to eye tests before being granted licenses. Moores place on the Lowe employee list will be taken by 19-year-old William Cox who hails from Corbin, Texas, home town of leading apprentice Clarence Smith. Happy holiday and hope you have some winners, too. Heres our choices for the big day: ANDY B. W. in the sixth, RUHE in the seventh, and BULLISH in the eighth.
