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Crete Handicap Closes For Nominations Tonight Will Head Lincoln FieldsOpening Program at Hawthorne on May 18 Lincoln Fields officials yesterday reminded horsemen of the closing tonight Friday, May 8, at midnight, of nominations for the 0,000 Crete Handicap, six-furlong stake that features Lincolns opening-day program at Hawthorne on Monday, May 18. As the first of six stakes to be run during the 30-day meeting which extends through June 20, the Crete is also the first stakes race of the new Illinois season. Down through the years the Crete Handicap has acquired a roster which includes some j rather distinguished winners. Some of the renewals stood out conspicuously on the calendars of their respective years. One of , these occasions occurred in 1935, when the three-year-old filly, Slim Rosie, beat West I Main, with the brilliant filly, Myrtlewood. I then three, beaten back to third. Slim Rosie was the fourth and last three -year-old to win the Crete during its first | 25 years. She was preceeded by Noreaster, I Blackwood and Pansy Walker. Three other mares won the Crete besides Pansy Walker and Slim Rosie. They were Marica, Silver-ette and Dolly Val, whose names will long be remembered by Chicago race goers. In the years before the Peabody Memorial Stakes now endowed with 0,000 was fashioned for three-year-olds exclusively, Marica was among its winners. Lex-town won the Peabody as a three-year-old in 1949, came back the following year to win tha Crete and be the champion sprinter of the 1950 meeting. A double of this kind is a possibility again, as Sam E. Wilsons Gushing Oil, winner of the Peabody last year, is among the early Crete nominees. J. D. Mikels Illinois -bred False won the Crete last year. Racing secretary Lawrence C. Bogen-schutz will open his office at Hawthorne Monday. On the following day he will announce the weights for the Crete. Starters are to be named through the entry box Saturday, May 16. Lincoln Fields officials admit the possibility that the race might I be divided as a result of heavy entries.
