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Bona Girl in Impressive Triumph at Ascot Park Jockey Bobby Shirley Injured on Shoulder in Three-Horse Spill By RONALD KRANCER Staff Correspondent ASCOT PARK, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, May 9. — A banner crowd of 9,500 turned out on a delightful afternoon to witness the fine sport presented by the host organization, although no new wagering records were established in the early events the day should wind up as one of the finest in the history of this course. Bona Girl, trained by Bill Bell and ridden by Eddie Plesa, scored an impressive tally in one of the better offerings on the nine race program. Bona Girl returned .20 as a lukewarm favorite and ran the six and a half furlongs in 1:26 over a heavy track. Guinette, the rank outsider, came second, beaten four and a half lengths and Fenty O. was third, another three parts of a length in arrears. Plesa rode an excellent race in here and allowed Bona Girl to lay about two and a half lengths off the pace on the run down the backstretch. As the field raced into the far turn, Bona Girl was in along the rail, but still trailed Guinette by a like margin. Midway around the final bend, Plesa hustled the eight-year-old Arabs Arrow mare along and she responded gamely with a fine rush and at the head of the stretch and went to the outside of the tiring pacesetter, who bore out a trifle at the head of the lane. In the final sixteenth of a mile there was no doubt about the result and Bona Girl went along in nice easy strides while increasing her advantage. The winner was nailing down her third score of the season and her second here since arriving from Charles Town. Last season, Bona Girl was owned by Hoyt Wil-helm of the halfers, going to the mound 49 times and winning five of those races. A spectacular three -horse spill marred the running of the second race, which was won by Our Peggy. As the horses raced into the clubhouse turn Bir Ackeim was in fourth position in along the rail when he crossed his front legs and went down. Win Fin, who was in close pursuit, fell over Bir Ackeim, throwing jockey Norman Hart heavily to the ground. Hazel Gold was moving up fast at the time, ran into one of the loose horses and also went down. Apprentice Hart and jockey Kratz got off the track under their own power. How- Continued on Pagt Forty-Four Bona Girl Wins at Ascot; Jockey Shirley Hurt in Spill Continued from Page Four ever, Bobby Shirey, who was riding Hazel Gold, was not as lucky and had to be taken off the course in an ambulance. Bir Ackeim and Win Fin appeared to be all right following their spills. However, Hazel Gold was cut very badly high on her left fore leg. According to the. first report from St. Thomas Hospital in Akron, jockey Bobby -Shirey may be suffering from a fracture of his left shoulder. The other two riders, Freddy Kratz and Norman Hart, were shaken up and were taken off all their remaining mounts. Willie Downs, who suffered a deep gash in his left leg in a freak mishap on the way to the post in that race, also took off the rest of the afternoon.
