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! Boost Stakes and Purses For Fair Grounds Meeting Make Orleans Handicap 0,000, Louisiana Derby 0,000 Added NEW ORLEANS, La., June 28. That historic Fair Grounds, once the mecca of American winter racing, is intent on regaining much of the glamour and prestige of the distant past, .was indicated today when Anthony Pelleteri, executive vice-president, announced a purse and stake schedule designed to lure many of the leading stables and horses. Foremost in the announcement by the prominent New Orleanean was sharp increases in the New Orleans Handicap and the Louisiana Derby. The former will carry an added purse of 0,000, while the traditional three-year-old fixture will be endowed with 0,000 added. Other increased stakes will be the 5,000 A. B. Letellier Memorial, 0,000 added Le Compte Handicap, 0,000 added Louisiana Handicap, and the ,500 Thanksgiving Handicap. Pelleteri announced that the meeting will run for a total of 82 racing days, beginning November 27 and ending March 14. The track will be dark on all but four Mondays. Of tremendous interest to the average horseman will be the fact that the minimum purse will be ,500, plus the fact that during the long session a series of Continued on Page Three I ANTHONY PELLETERI Executive vice-president of the Fair Grounds, announced an increased purse and stakes program for- the 1952-1953 season at the New Orleans course. Boost Stakes and Purses For Fair Grounds Meeting Make Orleans Handicap 0,000 Louisiana Derby 0,000 Added Continued from Page One 23 ,000 races, either under stakes, allowance or handicap conditions, will be offered. Lawrence C. Bogenschutz, veteran turf official, once again will be the racing secretary, Pelleteri added. Much of this increase in stakes and daily distribution, Pelleteri stated, was made possible by the recent law passed by the Louisiana legislative andsigned the other day by Gov. Robert Kennon, which provides for a more generous share of the state tax on the mutuels for the race track. Since president John S. Letellier and Pelleteri became the active heads of the Fair Grounds, which not long ago was destined as a housing project, the track has made a great deal of progress. Success followed in the path of this type of management, and last year it was climaxed by the most successful season in Louisiana racing history. The average mutuel play and attendance, however, did not quite make it possible for the course to reach its desired goal in purse and stake distribution, and it was only through the relief made possible by the recently enacted law that "prompted Letellier, Pelleteri, and other members of the board of directors of the Fair Grounds Corporation to announce the increases. Pelleteri also stated that the entire purse distribution will be patterned along the "bigger purses for better horses" idea, which this year has been strongly advocated by the Horsemens Benevolent and Protective Association. "We are extremely pleased to be in a position to raise the purses," Pelleteri said, "and from now until late in October we will make every effort to attract a better class of horses here. Stall space this year will be allotted mainly by the general class of horses in the barn of a stable. . "A strict screening process is planned, and any horse, no matter how many horses in his particular stable, that does not measure up to our standards, will not be allowed to enter the grounds." The new Purse Program and the big increase in available hotel and apartment accommodations is expected to attract to New Orleans the largest crowds in its history. Application blanks for stableroom are being distributed at various racing centers and Pelleteri urges all horsemen to be prompt in applying for stalls as the demand for stables here this winter undoubtedly -will be the heaviest it ever has been. After making the announcement, Pelleteri, his wife and daughter, immediately departed for a tour of the East, his first stop being Washington, D. C, after which he will proceed to Maryland, Delaware and New York. Shortly thereafter he will vacation for several weeks in Chicago. NEW ORLEANS, La., June 28. Chairman Max N. Tobias of the Louisiana State Racing Commission announced today that the commission had approved the dates requested by the Fair Grounds Corporation for its 1952-53 season November 27-March 14 and also said that the re-appointment of Lawrence C. Bogenschutz as racing secretary also had the commissions approval. Tobias has assured the Fair Grounds officials full support in the proposed plan to lift the standard of New Orleans racing to the highest plane. I
