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Balmoral - By J. J. Murphy All Is Quiet in Secretarys Office 48-Hour Closing for Final Program Brooks Puts on Hot Winning Streak WASHINGTON PARK, Homewood, 111., June 17. Everything was quiet, tranquil and serene around the racing secretarys office this morning. No shouting by members of the "staff seeking horses for such and such a race, no huddling of horsemen and jockeys agents and no rattling of typewriters. Missing was the raucous laughter of the practical jokers and the studious players of gin rummy. The place was just about as gloomy as Grants Tomb. For entries for Saturdays racing had been taken Thursday. This was more or less of an experiment as there is a small move ment afoot to have the "48-hour entry time" established on a permanent basis. It worked out very well Thursday. It enabled horsemen to snatch a few extra winks following their early day chores and gave some of the boys a chance to pay a surprise visit to a barber. This 48-hour closing may be all right. At least it beats a 12-hour closing. Only thing is, if the newspaper fellows get a couple of sets of entries on the same day, they are liable to become a bit confused and wind up selecting a few winners. The 48-hour closing is nothing new. It has been in practice at some courses for many years and has worked out okay. The objection of the horsemen seems to be that track conditions might change during the 48-hour lapse. Whats the difference? We have seen them change in 48 minutes around here this season. Traffic Judge An Ohio Derby Candidate Following the running of Saturdays Chicagoan, the Clifford Mooers three -year-old Traffic Judge will be shipped to ThistleDown by trainer W. C. "Woody" Stephens to take part in the Ohio Derby to be run at that track, June 25. Jockey Eddie Arcaro has been engaged to ride the colt in that affair. . A up-and-coming apprentice will be seen in action during the first week of Arlington in John Sellers, a lad under contract to Harry Trotsek. Sellers is at present the leading apprentice at Detroit. . . . Caddis F. Morriss, owner of,the three -year-old Munchausen, is on hand to cheer for his colt in the Chicagoan. . . . Chick Lang, who will handle the engagements of jockey Willie Har-tack at Arlington Park, visited the press box Friday. He was delighted that Hartack had passed Willie Shoemaker in the standings and is now Americas leading rider. . . . Owner Clifford Mooers arrived for the Chicagoan. Following .two weeks of "off" tracks we overheard one customer complaining because the dust got in his eyes. . . . Note from Canada states" that Ace Marine, the Queens Plate winner, will not be seen in action in Chicago this summer. . . . Sorrow being expressed among horsemen at the passing of Chicagoan, J. S. Bradley, owner of Sun David and other horses. . . . Helen Mae Cook, the stewards secretary, reports that her niece, Marilee Stepan, a member of the 1952 U. S. Olympic swimming team, will be wed Saturday to Private Richard Wehman, who was captain of the 1954 Loyola swimming team. Mrs. Cook is a former nautical champion lovely as is Miss Lees mother, the former Mary Ann Quinn. Surprisingly enough the nuptials will not be performed in a swimming pool, but at a church in Winnetka, HI. . . . Have a card from Cyril Clemens, of Kirkwood, Mo., stating that he is editing the anecdotes of his kinsman, Samuel Clemens "Mark Twain" and -saying that he would be happy to hear from any readers having jokes or stories dealing the the American humorist, who was an ardent turf devotee in his day. Dark Togas First Start Impressive Wallace Strong has purchased Cherry Foray from Claude Bourland. . . . Former trainer Knox Osborne has blossomed out as a docker. ... A. Arnold has sent Carrier Girl to Fairmount Park. . . . Delmar "Peaches" Morton, the blind trainer, draws the entries for post positions in the racing secretarys office every morning. . . . U. R. Smith, who has some horses here, is visiting from Terre Haute, 111. . . . Jess Byrd has announced the purchase of the contract of James Ruggeri, who was the leading apprentice rider at Hollywood Park. The boy "will be seen in action at Arlington. . . . T. D. Buhls ,200 yearling purchase, Dark Toga, made his first start here recently and finished second. Looks like a good investment. . . . Turf scribe Maurice Shevlin took Thursday off to attend the high school graduation exercises of his daughter, Susan. Jockey Steve Brooks completed one of the hottest winning streaks at Washington or Arlington Park in the last 10 years when he won with the last three horses he rode Wednesday and the first two on which he appeared Thursday. Five, in a row, to bring his total number of winners for the meeting up to 36, 10 more than Johnny Adams, who is the runner-up. . . . Pat Farrell and Lou Eilken, the handicappers here, hold Hasty House Farms imported three-year-old My Beau in high regard. They gave him top weight on the scale in Fridays Iron Mask Handicap. My Beau was regarded as being one of Englands finest young racers prior to being shipped to this country. . . . Fly Wheel, recently purchased at Belmont by Monaghan Farms, will make his first stakes start of the Chicago season in the Laurence Armour Memorial Handicap at Arlington, June 25.
