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ThistieDown Work to Be Completed by Sept 1st Racing Will Return to Cleveland Track Sept. 11 for 44-Day Meet By RONALD. KRANCER Staff Corespondent THISTLE DOWN, North Randall, Ohio, June 29. "ThistieDown will be finished by September 1st," Louis Pondfield, managing director of the track, stated today. ThistieDown, which burned down in 1944, is now in the process of being rebuilt by Pondfield and his associates, and when completed will be one of the most beautiful race tracks in the country. The project will run close to ,000,000 when it has been fully completed. The steel workers will be finished with their work on the structure by the end of the week and then the next step will be the roofing which should only take about two weeks, weather permitting. While the roofing is being done, concrete will be laid in the grandstand, which will be quite a tedious procedure, but should be completed before the first of August. In that final month, such things as the seats, plumbing and decorating of the new plant will be done. ThistieDown, which is scheduled to open on September 11, will run for 44 days, winding up on October 31, and will have a stakes program headed by the 5,000 added Ohio Derby and the Thistle Down Handicap also for 5,000. The Derby, which was revived last season at Cranwood Park, will have its tenth running this year. Such former greats as Black Gold, Dunoon, Boot to Boot, Paradisical, Easter Stockings, and Clang have participated in other Ohio Derbys, and under the ambitious leadership of ThistleDowns new management, some of the top three-year-olds are expected to be entered in this years event. The Derby was inaugurated in 1924 and was run at Maple Heights in suburban Cleveland for three years. In 1928, the race was moved to Bainbridge Park, where it ran through 1932. There was a lapse of several years during the depression and it was once again run in 1935 at the old ThistieDown. This years race will be the highest purse that has been offered in any of the renewals, the previous high was in 1929 when Thistle Fyrn won and he collected 1,880. ! i
