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Roosevelt Raceway Opens 14th Season Tonight New York Track Operates 108 Nights; ,000,000 in Purses WESTBURY. L. I.. N. Y.. May 23.— Roosevelt Raceway launches its fourteenth season of night harness racing Monday night. The trotters and pacers will be at the local oval for an 108-night stand, ending September 26. In this four-month period, purse distribution to the standard -breds will exceed two million dollars. In the stake allotment are six attractive races having an aggregate value of 10,000. Biggest of the stakes are the traditional Roosevelt headliners. The 0,000 Nassau Pace and the 0,000 Roosevelt Trot. Both these races have been contested at two miles since their inauguration in 1947. but this year the distance has been shortened to a mile and one-half. The Nassau Pace will be held on July 30 and the Roosevelt Trot is scheduled for September 17. The 0,000 races are the Village Farm Stake No. 18 for three-year-old pacers on August 3 and the Old Country Trot for three-year-olds on July 29. These two races represent the biggest increase in stake value at Roosevelt. The Village Farm Stake has been boosted by 0,000. Last year the Old Country Trot had a value of ,500 and was limited to three-year-old fillies. This season it was decided to make it an authentic preview of the Hambletonian, which will be raced 13 days later, by raising the value 2,500 and allowing all three-year-old trotters to compete. It will be one of the final tests before the Hambletonian. The 5,000 races are the annual invitational National Pacing Derby and the American Trotting Championship. The former event will be held on July 2 and the latter on August 27. Improvements have been made in all areas of the Roosevelt plant. The parking area has been increase dto accommodate five hundred more cars. Entrances and exits have been widened to move patrons more quickly. Grandstand renovations have been completed which will provide greater comfort for fans underneath the grandstand aroa
