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B. W. Downing Qualifying Trials at Westbury Oval Two Separate Heats at Mile With ,000 Purse Each Friday Night WESTBURY, N. Y., This weeks racing at Roosevelt Raceway will be highlighted by the mile qualifying trials for the 0,000 Benjamin W. Downing Memorial Race on Friday, June 6. There will be two separate heats with a ,000 purse for each. The first five finishers in each division will qualify for the following Friday event, which carries a 0,000 pot. The stellar list of pacers entered in the Downing Memorial, the biggest race of the local season thus far, is headlined by Dudley Hanover, Good Time, Irish Hal, Prince Jay, Sampson Hanover and Dr. Stanton. Dudley Hanover won the recent 5,000 Golden West Pace at Santa Anita; Good Time is the all-time money winning leader among pacers; Irish Hal won the Golden West Pace in 1951; Prince Jay was the winner of the 5,000 National Pacing Derby at Roosevelt last year and holder of the second best time 2:00% for a pacer on a mile track; Sampson Hanover is the only horse to pace a mile in under two minutes on a half-mile oval, doing 1:59% last year at Delaware, Ohio, for a worlds record, and Dr. Stanton is second only to Good Time in all-time earnings. What ordinarily would be an obscure race is the ,000 Montauk Pace the same night. However, with Thomas B. Scott, Direct Rhythm, Prince Adios and, possibly, Sampson Hanover, entered the lesser stake has taken on increased stature. Thomas B. Scott held off Sampson Hanover and Direct .Rhythm in a thrilling rush to the wire in the Inaugural Pace, going the mile in 2:01%. This was the best time of the year on a half-mile track and one of the most stirring races seen at Roosevelt in the West-bury tracks 13-year history of night harness racing. Saturdays Montauk Trot affords trot fans their first look of the season at Ford Hanover, the winner of the 5,000 Kentucky Futurity last year. Ford Hanover, owned by William H. Strang, Jr., of Brooklyn, earned the third highest total among three-year-old trotters last season. Ford Hanover will receive top-flight opposition from Mighty Fine, Rose Song, Scotch Princess, Thunderation and Blitzen Up.
