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_ Runners Converge On Monmouth Park Nearly 250 Horses Arrive Over Week End for 50-Day Meet That Opens Saturday By WILLIAM C. PHILLIPS Staff Correspondent MONMOUTH PARK, Oceanside, N. J., June 6. — The influx of horses for the Monmouth Park meeting of 50 days that opens Saturday reached flood proportions over the week end with nearly 250 thoroughbreds cheeking through the closely guarded portals of the stable entrance from the early hours of Saturday morning into Sunday afternoon. The majority were being transferred from Garden State Park but several came from Maryland and Delaware Park, and the various farms throughout the states in this sector. The newly arrived horses increased the number stabled on the grounds to 658 at the last count on Sunday afternoon. The count was specific, and listed 45 accompanying stable ponies. Shipment orders in the offices of stall superintendent George Dolan revealed little activity was likely today and tomorrow, but another big-rush begins on Wednesday and continues through the eve of Saturdays opening when a full complement of approximately 1,170 thoroughbreds will be quartered in Monmouths modern fire-proofed barns. This figure makes allowances for feed and tack rooms, stalls for ponies, and a few vacant stalls reserved for stakes horses expected to arrive in the near future, and is as nearly correct as possible. However, it is not a true total because a large number of nearby training farms are utilized throughout the meeting and add at least 300 more horses to the overall community of racers. Well Located to Other Tracks Monmouth Park is also extremely fortunate in its central location relative to the other eastern race tracks. This geopraph-ical situation makes it a simple matter for stakes runners and horses of better calibre to both ship in and out for overnight engagements elsewhere, and indeed, many of the top stakes stars during the meeting will be invaders from New York, New England, Delaware and Maryland. Last year four of the Monmouth Park stakes were captured . by invaders and nearly every top feature race was spiced by intertrack competition. The winning outsiders in 1954 included Wheatley Stables High Voltage, the Colleen Stakes; Mrs. R. L. Gerrys" Master Ace, the Oceanport; Ogden Phipps Bassanio, the Monmouth Handicap, and Brookmeades First Aid, the Omnibus. The Monmouth Park racing strip suits nearly all horses, and unlike many courses, a horse seldom needs an outing over the track to get the "feel of it." It is sandy in nature, and for that reason it packs down under a rainfall and never gets muddy. Actually it is the rule rather than the exception that races are run in faster times here over a sloppy surface than when it is fast. This is another big attraction for stakes horses shipping in because a trainer seldom must worry about track conditions due to the weather. Although racing secretary John Turner, Jr., opened his offices for preparatory work as nearly as May 9, the stable area was not accessible to horses until May 26, and then it was two days before the first thoroughbred made his appearance. Trainer Sidney Jacobs, with 19 of his own horses and those of the Jaclyn Stable, was the early-bird once again.
