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- i Sportsmans Park By J. J. Murphy Plan Five-Furlong OyoI This Fall Present Meet Beyond Expectations Fairway Farm Has New Conditioner SPORTSMANS PARK, Cicero, 111., May 4.— WillianV Johnston, president of the National Jockey Club, is a man with a plan, and the same goes for his brother, and right hand man, Jack, the dapper vice-prexy. They are looking -to the future of Sportsmans Park and dreaming of the day when racing here will attract some of the best thoroughbreds in the nation. The Johnstons figure on having their new five-furlong racing strip, with six-fur-lohg chute, ready for the autumn session/ Next year they will go all out to lure top grade sprinters, as well as good route runners, for the spring semester, "kick-off" meeting in the Chicago area. The five-eighths with chute is the best possible strip under present conditions. Sportsmans Park is limited in area. It is hemmed in by Hawthorne on the south, railroad tracks on the north, and Laramie Avenue on the west. Expansion must be to the east, which is now a parking" lot. The turns on the new strip will be banked and top purses for this track will be offered for sprint handicaps. "If we had the track arid summer dates, we could offer 10 per cent more for stakes than any other track," remarked Bill Johnston the other day. Predict Record Daily Handle Sportsmans Park is having a meeting exceeding all expectations. Of course the summerlike weather has something to do with it, but so has the additional seating capacity and the fact that patrons now have more freedom of movement. The total pari-mutuel play for the first eight days greatly exceeded that of the similar period last year. It is being predicted that the all-time handle of ,469,533 on getaway day last year will be surpassed before the end of the session it the weather holds good. Strangely enough, wagering on the lower level of the clubhouse, usually the hot-bed of action, is, according to Jack Johnston, lower this year per capita than at any other section of the track. Racing has been good and the advertised minimum purse of ,700 has yet to be posted for any race. All purses have been higher. Jockey W. M. Cook returned from Churchill Downs where he rode Jet Flame in the Derby Trial. . . . Jockey Harold Keene has again severed connections with the W. H. Bishop stable. This makes the seventh time, he and the owner have agreed to disagree. . . . Apprentice Arthur Farrell has been released from the hospital. Will not be able to ride for about a month. ; . . Jockey Ralph Borgemenke, one of the leading riders of New v England, is due in to take over the reinsman chores for the Bishop stable. . . . Jockey Charlie Hughes was an arrival from St. Louis. Note from Harry J. OShea, of Fairway Farm, informing that Eddie Barnes had been appointed trainer for his stable, replacing Nick Moran, and that the horses inhis barn are Good Call, Recline, Big Broadcast, Hi Jet, Galafair, Undergraduate, More Robust, Exultant, and Sandy M. Barnes was a stakes-winning rider in the early twenties and is known as a capable conditioner. . . . One of the oldest and most enthusiastic patrons of the turf was a visitor Tuesday in the person of 88-year-old Mrs. Margaret Mitchell,, who is the mother of Mrs. Mickey Meredith, long-time employee of the National Jockey Club. Mrs. Mitchell accompanies her daughter to Florida each winter. . . . Felix Rondo, New Orleans restauateur and former horse owner, in from the Crescent City for a visit. . .. . Cheapskate, a three-year-old filly belonging to H. J. Bianco, recently died of shipping fever. Timely Tip to Race at Sportsmans Jockey Leroy Pierce arrived from New England with the stable of C. F. Warner. . . . C. S. Bellew has shipped Baluster and Barn Boss to Fairmount Park. . . . Owner Elmer E. Heckel is visiting from St.. Louis. . . . Racing secretary Bob McAuliffe states that owner Dr. A. L. Birch has informed him that Timely Tip, the 1954 Arkansas Derby winner, will be here to run the latter part of the meeting. . . . Trainer W. T. Raymond arrived at Washington Park with the horses of the Chicago-owned Jacnot Stable. . . . Owner Sam Bro-cato came in from New Orleans to view his racer, Kangasu, in action. . . . A. H. Warner checked into Washington Park with a number of runners. . . . A. G. Shriver has shipped Take All and one other to Fair-mount Park. The first shipment from California checked in when the horses of the Foothill Stable arrived from Golden Gate Fields in charge of trainer John Hartigan, whose father at one time trained for the Aga Khan. The horses are owned by J. B. Allison. . . . In-order to keep Sportsmans Park on a business-like basis, vice-president Jack Johnston provided a stock of requisition blanks. First one was filled out by his older brother, contractor Jim Johnston, who requested a new automobile with power steering.
