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FRANK R WARTON Illinois Racing Board member who serves as chairman of the Uniform Rules and Procedure Com ¬ mittee of the NASRC gave the report of his committee at yesterdays opening session of the annual convention To Build Turf Training Tracks At Arlington and Washington Will Be Replicas of Main Grass Courses and Will Be Ready for Use Next Season SeasonBenjamin Benjamin F Lihdheimer executive di ¬ rector of Arlington and Washington Parks and a pioneer of grasscourse racing since 1935 announced yesterday that turf train ¬ ing courses will be built at the two tracks tracksThe The two training tracks will be replicas of the main grass coursesj which are re ¬ garded as two of the most outstanding in America They will be the first such courses in thoroughbred racing in this country and will be ready for use in 1954 1954I I feel certain Lindheimer said in mak ¬ ing this important announcement that the day is not too distant when we will see as many races on the grass as on the flat flatTurf Turf Is Natural Place to Race On OnI I always have felt that the most natural place for a horse to race is on the turf because as youngsters they first learn to run on grass fields Not only are horses familiar with grass but it is an accepted fact that it is easier for them to run on the turf and with less strain This factor lengthens the thoroughbreds racing life lifeWe We feel he continued that horsemen should be given the opportunity to train their thoroughbreds on grass as consist ¬ ently and as easily as they train them on the flat It will aid both horsemen and horses horsesIn In addition our new turf training courses will be of benefit to the public since consistent training on grass provides the medium whereby the racing public will now be able to obtain the same information they receive on horses training on the flat flatContinued Continued on Page FortySix To Build Turf Training Courses at Two Tracks TracksWill Will Be Replicas of Main Grass Ovals at Arlington Washington WashingtonContinued Continued from Page One OneThese These advances in turf racing Lind heimer concluded will permit horses from racing centers throughout the world where they race almost exclusively on grass to train and race in the United States under conditions with which they are completely familiar and on courses which are prop ¬ erly banked and cushioned cushionedMuch Much of the pioneering in American turf racing has been accomplished at Arlington Park and Washington Park New grass successfully developed at the twin Chicago courses provides an excellent cushion re ¬ tains moisture and never gets hard Arling ¬ tonWashington also introduced properly banked turns on both their mile grass course about 10 years ago and as a result turf racing now is considerably safer and is becoming increasingly popular with both horsemen and the racing public publicThe The Arlington Park turf training course is being constructed around the infield of the present training track and will be ap ¬ proximately seven furlongs furlongsGrassracing Grassracing has been a major segment of the ArlingtonWashington 67day co ¬ ordinated meeting for over a decade and has now grown to international propor ¬ tions The two Chicago tracks have sub ¬ stantially increased their turf program for 1953 so that it now is the richest and most diversified in racing racingThe The grass program includes the 50000 added Meadowland Handicap at Washing ¬ ton Park August 29 three stakes at 25 000 each the Stars and Stripes Handicap July 4 and Laurance H Armour Memo ¬ rial July 20 at Arlington and the Grass ¬ land Handicap August 15 at Washington Park In addition at least six overnight grass races at 10000 each have been card I ed for the summer campaign
