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Banner Year in Offing * At Omahas Ak-Sar-Ben s w Meeting of 35 Days Will Start May 19 With 0,000 Handicap OMAHA, Nebr., May 2. — A banner year is in the offing for the popular Ak-Sar-Ben race meet which gets underway at the famed civic organizations fine plant here for a 35-day run on May 19. The 1953 meet will close July 4, with the third running of the 0,000 added Ak-Sar-Ben Handicap. An outstanding array of racing events has been scheduled by James P. Lee, chairman of the Ak-Sar-Ben racing committee; J. J. Isaacson, general manager, and R. A. "Dick" Leigh, veteran official and director of racing at Ak-Sar-Ben for more than a decade. A record purse outlay of 50.00 covers minimum purses of ,300; ten overnight handicaps offering purses of ,000; four handicaps carrying a price tag of ,000 each and the 0,000-added feature on closing day. Some of the finest thoroughbred stock ever to race at Ak-Sar-Ben will provide the action in what is expected to be dazzling season of star-studded performances. Nearly 600 horses already are quartered in the expansive barn area and are getting daily workouts for the arduous racing chores ahead. Other fleet-footed charges are expected to arrive in the next two weeks from Florida and California and from Churchill Downs, home of the world famous Kentucky Derby. Among the awaited shipments will be a host of top performers which thrilled Ak-Sar-Ben race fans last year. Auntie, owned by Sam Barrett, has been racing well in •California this year and should prove a worthy contender again in Omaha. The little mare was in the money seven times in as many Ak-Sar-Ben starts last year, winning the J. E. Davidson Memorial Handicap and collecting three seconds and three thirds in six other handicaps. Guy Shultz, the likable Marland, Okla., horseman who had the leading money-winning stable here last year, will return with Butch K. The six-year-old gelded son of Whisk K. upset a field of crack runners in winning the 0,000 Ak-Sar-Ben Handicap last season. M. H. VanBerg, veteran Columbus, Nebr., horseman who is consistently among the nations leading trainers, annually sends a stable of fine runners here. Last year his French Admiral won two major handicaps and set new track records for the mile and seventy yards and the mile and one -sixteenth. Nebraska horsemen will be vieing in two new features at the forthcoming meeting. The Ak-Sar-Ben Futurity, a five-furlong event for Nebraska-bred two-year-olds, will be run June 26. A similar event for Nebraska -bred three-year-olds is the Nebraska Breeders Special, a mile and a sixteenth thriller scheduled for June 30. Ak-Sar-Ben again has taken a progressive step in providing a number of new conveniences for horsemen and patrons. Major face-lifting includes the construction of a new model barn. There is a new semi-enclosed outdoor paddock, and a new childrens area complete with grandstand facilities for the safety and convenience of horsemens children. There are 6,000 new stadium-type seats in the main grandstand, including a group of "king-sized" seats for the comfort of the more portly patrons. Other improvements include a new division of mutuels on the lawn level, and a major "tote" board in the centerfield.
