view raw text
Entries Closing Today For Fairmount Feature Expect Crack Field for ,000 Memorial Day Holiday Event FAIRMOUNT PARK, Collinsville, 111., May 26. — For the first time since night thoroughbred racing was brought to Fair-mount Park under the present management, a ,000 race will be presented. It will be the ,000 Memorial Day Handicap at a mile and a sixteenth. Nominations for the May 31 day-time program — it will be the first of only two non-nocturnal shows — will close Thursday. And on Saturday, May 29, racing secretary Jack Klucina will announce the weights and entries for the event. The only other day-time program at the Collinsville course will be held Monday, July 5, and the 60-day meeting will close July 24. Klucina expects all of the leading horses now at the track to be nominated for the Decoration Day highlight. Approximately 50 Chicago horses came down the past week from Sportsmans Park, Klucina said, and some of them could add class to the race; too. Some 20 other horses were shipped in from Louisville and Ohio tracks. General manager Edwin C. Moon, heartened by the steady progress in attendance and mutuel play since his group of associates switched from the sulky sport to the thoroughbreds, said, "If the St. Louis fans go for a bigger type of race, well have more of the ,000 events — and even better." He pointed out that 9,000 in purses was distributed last Labor Day — but no ,000 event was included in the nine-race card. Still, a record 00,000-plus handle was pushed through the windows. A total of 5,000 will be disbursed on May 31. Big races are.nothing new to Fairmount. During the late Col. Matt Winns regime here, the Fairmount Derby was one of the countrys premier events. The Derby was instituted in 1926 when Haste, with Earl Sande up, won. Buddy Bauer won in 1927 and Misstep in 1928 and Karl Eitel in 1929. The race was worth 5,000 then, attracting Kentucky Derby starters. Fairmount Park cleared the ,000,000 mark last Saturday and now is heading for bigger and better "totals, officials hope with a break from the weatherman. Cool weather the first 13 dates has played a big part in holding down the attendance and handle. But after 8,886 fans pushed 08,985 through the mutuel windows last Saturday, Fairmounts handle stood at ,291,932 and the total attendance at 92,455.
