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JUDGES STAND ■ - — By Charles Hatton Notable Improvement in Chicago Programs Whirla Lea Points for Peabody Memorial See Continued Uptrend at Lincoln Meet Several Innovations Noted at Hawthorne HAWTHORNE, Cicero, HI., May 22. It seems to this tourist that the Lincoln Fields club has effected a really noteworthy improvement in the quality of its programs at this meeting. And this is in spite of the fact the track has been fast just once in the first 10 days. Racing secretary Larry Bogenschutz condition book for the ensuing 10 days is pitched higher still. The minimum here is ,500, but only 16 of the total of 80 races proposed for this period are for horses that race for minimum purses. This is the sort of thing that has made Keeneland racing so attractive, both to the public and those who invest in the better quality of horses. Also, like the Kentucky association, Lincoln encourages those who breed or buy and develop young thoroughbreds by offering generous purses in two-year-old races. For purses races. example, there is on todays card an allowance event for two-year-old fillies that has a purse of ,500. There is also a ,500 allowance race for mature sprinters having just seven betting units, but it promises to be both a good show and good business. Bogenschutz is filling many races at a mile and a sixteenth or farther, and the records show route events at Chicago tracks attract larger play than do sprints for the same calibre of horses. Further, he cards some of these among the earlier races on the program. This relieves the monotony of a series of five or six consecutive starts at the end of the backstretch. And the new condition book proposes an assortment oL races on the turf course. These have a tremendous appeal for Chicagoans, usually attracting greater play than when the same fields meet on the main course. The notion here is that the increased distribution in northern Illinois this season will bring a generally higher class of racing material to the area, and, in turn, afford Chicagoans the best sport they have seen in years. Of course, their patronage, which makes the distribution possible, entitles them to it. The 5,000 Peabody Memorial of a mile and one furlong for three-year-olds here on May 30 may have an unusual element of international rivalry, with Sub Fleet, Master Fiddle, Count Flame and Gushing Oil among the eligibles. A candidate that intrigues this tourist is .the filly Whirla Lea, whom trainer "Tiny" Keezek showed us in the stable area this morning. Keezek knows the old saying, "Fillies do not beat colts," but Marica and Myrtle-wood won Peabodys, and the veteran tells us that "Whirla Lea is training nicely, and I hope to run her in a short race, then in the stake." The colts would have to give the strapping chestnut daughter of Whirlaway five pounds. Which brings us to a fundamental difference in the thinking of many horsemen here and in the East. The Midlands trainers seem to prefer racing even cheap fillies against horses at the sex allowance and few of the filly and mare overnighters at New Orleans, in Kentucky, and here at Hawthorne have filled. Returning to Whirla Lea, she has picked up a bit since the Kentucky Oaks, in which she made two runs at Real Delight and had her. former stablemate doing her best down at the finish. Keezek declares, "I have never trained a filly that was such a good doer." It is encouraging to the small owners that Whirla Lea, twice cast off before coming to the races, is second best of her age and sex right off the form. Whatever the future holds, she is unlikely ever to step on her pedigree, since she is out of a Bull Lea mare. The trend at Lincolns Hawthorne meet is "up" despite the disagreeable weather and is confidentally expected to continue in that direction. The close of Churchill Downs made more and better horses, and more riding talent available. An innovation this season is the film patrol. This tends toward more formful sport, and in turn more revenue. Additionally the facilities for handling Daily Doubles play have been increased, with new windows conveniently located at the west end of the stand. More parking area also tends to improve the "tote" action, and those leaving early may place wagers on the last two races at the information window. Pimlico officials, incidentally, feel that Preakness Day play might have been even larger, except that many of the crowd were parked blocks away and left immediately after the stake. The horsemen are pleased" that the turf course has new drainage, and there is a new stable of 47 stalls, with spic and span tack rooms and hot and cold running water. The swish track kitchen is among Hawthornes proudest boasts. Racing men appreciate these things, for as we commented several columns ago, there is a shortage of really skilled labor, and the best grooms and exercise boys usually are to be found where living conditions are best. Turf ana: Saturdays Fleming Memorial will be filmed and shown on TV in the area Sunday p. m. . . . Happy Go Lucky goes East for the Belmont if he runs well in the local Peabody Memorial. . . . There was a time nobody cared to have Mail From Home, now a stakes horse, though he raced for ,000. . . . Hawthorne horsemen are impressed with the promise of apprentice Robert Willis, and he is getting a large share of the mounts. . . . Should the "Trend" here toboggan unexpectedly, there are always the two Herefords grazing in the innerfield, the flock of ducks on the lake, which is itself stocked with fish. . . . Lincoln distributes an average of some 5,000 daily this week. . . . Hawthornes stand and lawn has a sharp angle, affording a more intimate view of proceedings than at some of the more modern tracks. . . . Hollywood Parks furlong poles are stippled in flourescent paint. . . . Sportsmans and Hawthorne are within 25 minutes of The Loop. . . . The condition book for the first nine days at Arlington shows a purse minimum of ,500, but these events are in the minority. . . . Volcanic, an old Chicago favorite, is in training to defend his turf course title.
