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Fairmount Opens On Thursday Night NightOver Over 150000 Expended on Improvements Kerroneand Roenigke Stables on Hand HandCOTT COTT JNSVTTTK 111 May 3 A face ¬ lifted Fairmount Park will present a new look when it opens its 60night racing season Thursday evening May 6 but many of the top trainers and jockeys rarin to go again are old hands at the East Side track trackThe The Collinsville course spent more than 150000 during the offseason sprucing up expanding its parking facilities rearrang ¬ ing its mutuel facilities in the mezzanine of the clubhouse adding drop doors to pro ¬ tect grandstand patrons during inclement weather and repainting the entire plant plantAmong Among the trainers prepping their pro ¬ teges for the long meet are Fred Roenigke of Collinsville and Don Kerrone of West Frankfort 111 111Roenigke Roenigke nosed out his rival last sea ¬ son 17 firsts to 16 In the spring it was 1110 in favor of Kerrone while Roenigke saddled seven winners to five for his rival during the latesummer session sessionFormer Former Riding Champions Back BackFour Four former riding champs are back too They include Kenny Griffith who set a Fairmount record last year when he brought home 40 winners in the spring Rafael Sanatoria the cigarchewing Cuban who led all jockeys in the spring of 1950 with 36 winners and two years later with 28 victories Frankie Keene who finished in a firstplace tie with Les Wickel last summer with 22 firsts and Bumpy Grand sart the 51 summer champ who posted 33 triumphs triumphsGeneral General manager Edwin C Moon is par ¬ ticularly proud about a number of other improvements too He points out that 12 foot sidewalks covered by 20 foot canopies have been constructed for the entire length of the clubhouse and grandstand enabling motorists to drive right up to the entrance in bad weather There also will be new extremes for both the grandstand and club ¬ house houseRacing Racing secretary Jack Klucina is a busy man as horses continue to arrive Fair mounts condition book for the first eight nights of action shows the purses for this period will amount to at least 82400 for an average of 10000plus for the second straight season Handicap races for 2500 and 3000 will highlight the first eight days of racing and the daybyday break ¬ down goes like this 10000 10100 11400 9600 9700 9800 9900 11900 The daily average figure represents quite a jump from 1950 the start of night thor ¬ oughbred racing at Fairmount when the daily average stood at 7046 But Moon has insisted through the years that as the caliber of the horses improved so would the purses He has been a man of his word wordFairmounts Fairmounts brass will be on hand for the opening spring program Thursday night In addition to general manager Moon president Daniel Parish vicepresi ¬ dent Willibald Schaefer secretarytreasurer Ray C Bennigsen Michael Parish Russell Casteel and Festus Stacy all members of Fairmounts board of directors plan to spend several days at the Collinsville rac ¬ ing plant
