Garden States Colonial Goes to Lillal: 44,569 Fans Set Attendance Record, Daily Racing Form, 1954-06-01

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Garden States Colonial GoestoLillal 44,569 Fans Set Attendance Record Emardee Three Lengths Off Warner L. Jones, Jr. Filly At Wi re; Speedy Wa ye Th i rd By FRED GALIANI GARDEN STATE PARK, Camden, N. J., May 31. The largest crowd in the 13 -year history of the track, 44,569 strong and wagering with equal fervor to set an all-time high for "an eight race handle, saw Warner L. Jones, Jr.s. Lillal lead virtually from the start to capture the Colonial Handicap. Under 113 pounds and Kenny Church, the Alorter miss rattled the six furlongs over the fast track in 1:11 to lead Mrs. Wallace Gilroys Emardee by three lengths. Todays holiday throng not only was a record for Garden State, but also for the State of New Jersey. Another half length back in the field of 15 came Mrs. John Hertzs Speedy Wave, while T. F. Corcorans Stepper Upper fin-inshed fourth. The first three were " all lightweights of the field. Meyer Kaplans Sunshine Nell, the topweight with 126 pounds, stumbled at the start, was never close and wound up tenth. Lillal was purchased by Jones from her breeder Tom Piatt. A chestnut by Alorter out of Spanish Uhl, she was winning the first stakes of her career. She had been raced twice previously .this year, being beaten a head on both occasions. After the race, Church was asked when he thought he knew he was going to win. "I thought I was on a winner when I got on the plane in Chicago, and I knew I was on a winner when we went under the wire." Breaks From Outside Lillal broke from the outside and though Speedy Wave was the quickest out of the gate, she soon rushed up past the Hertz filly and went into command. From that point on, she was never threatened, increasing her margin throughout. While she was winging along, Emardee and Speedy Wave were doing their best to catch" her, but to no avail. Emardee was along the inside saving ground, while Speedy Wave was forced to take the overland route, and went slightly wide on the turn. The ground saved by Emardee enabled her to take second from Speedy Wave. The Pistorio entry of Brazen Brat and Singing Beauty was made a slight favorite over Sunshine Nell, but none of the three was prominent at any stage of the running. Singing Beauty and Brazen Brat finished twelfth and thirteenth, while Sunshine Nell was tenth. Atalanta, another well-regarded entrant, was in close quarters on the turn, then closed well to be eighth. A new Daily Double handle record was set when the holiday crowd wagered 44,-334, bettering the previous high set on October 31, 1943, when 98,578 was sent through the machines. The record high in this form of betting in the state of New Jersey is the 66,378 bet last August at Monmouth Park. Incidentally, the latter is the worlds record for a Daily Double pool.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1950s/drf1954060101/drf1954060101_3_1
Local Identifier: drf1954060101_3_1
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800