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Balmorals 30-Day Meet Successful Handle Averages 27,642 Daily; Attendance, 12,056 Eleven Stakes Decided as t Group Stages First Meet; Adams Rides 3,000th Winner The first meeting of the Balmoral Jockey Club which came to a close last Saturday was highly successful. The organization, which acquired the assets of the old Lincoln Fields Racing Association only a few months before the meeting was to getTunder way, staged its initial session at Washington Park with the approval of the Illinois Racing Board. President Russell Reineman and directors Hubert Howard and Herbert Herff declared it impossible to get the home track at Crete ready for the May 16 opening. During the 30-day session, a total of ! 7,829,265 passed through the mutuel : machines, for a daily average of 27,642. Attendance was 361,694 for a per diem average of 12,056. These figures are quite, . remarkable in view of the unusual heavy ; rains that hit the Chicago area during the ! period of operation. Although comparison with figures for . the 1954 Lincoln Fields meeting is not useful, it remains that the daily average handle at the Crete plant, which is located some 12 miles further south of Washington Park, was 43,691 and the average daily attendance 9,286. ; Three 0,000 Races Balmoral scheduled a program of 11 stakes, headed by three 0,000 added I events, the Citation Handicap on Memorial : Day, the Balmoral Turf Handicap on June 11 and the Chicagoan on closing day. In all, the 11 stakes totaled 15,000 in added money. Gross distribution for the 30 days was ,128,375 and net disbursement, ,-078,750. One of the highlights of the session came at the conclusion of the -first week with the running of the Continental Turf Handicap when Johnny AdamsT leading rider on the Chicago circuit for several years,- guided Mister Black into the winners, circle for his 3,000th winning mount. Ceremonies were conducted after the running of the event and then the following Wednesday, May 25, the association staged Johnny Adams Day and Johnny Longden, who has ridden over 4,000 winners himself, came on from California to participate in the festivities. The big day of the meeting was the holiday on May 30, annually one of the great days on the turf calendar. A crowd of 36,716 traveled to Washington Park for the nine-race program that afternoon and wagered- ,181,820. Hasty House Farms Sea O Erin was an easy winner of the Citation Handicap under Johnny Adams guidance, Two Fisted running second and Scent, third. The wagering on that race alone amounted to 93,108. Two horses scored double stake victories during the meeting. Sam E. Wilson, Jr.s Tiger Wander accounted for the Apprentice on May 25 and the Joliet on June 8. J. H. and H. M. Monoghans Scent was the other, the Jamestown five-year-old winning the , La Salle Handicap on opening day and the Domino on June 15. One of the largest fields to contest a . stake race at the Homewood course came out for the Chicagoan on closing day. W. L. Ranchs Honeys Alibi proved a surprise, - winner, defeating Blue Lem and Make : Ready for the winners purse of 9,400 of the gross purse of 2,500. Twenty-four horses were named overnight and 17 started. A crowd of 20,784 witnessed, the program and they wagered ,543,387 on the nine races. Mr. and Mrs. Allie Reubens Hasty House Farm was the leading money-winning owner with 1,185 in winnings. The Ohio-owned string had four firsts, one second and two thirds". Mrs. N. L. Nathehson was second with 2,070 and Sam E. Wilson, Jr., third with 1,305. By virtue of his triumph in the Citation, Hasty Houses Sea O Erin topped the horses with 1,800 to his credit; Blue Choir, winner of the Balmoral Turf Handicap, was second with 1,500 and Honeys Alibi third, worth 0,-200. Steve Brooks, who was second to Johnny Adams at the 1954 Lincoln meeting, reversed the tables, leading the Kansan, 36 wins to 29. William McKinley Cook was third with .18. William Hal Bishop was leading trainer again this season, sending out 10 winners, against nine for P. G. Johnson and William J. Schmidt. Balmoral statistics follow: May 76 to June 1830 Days Gross distribution ,128,375 Net distribution .,078,750 Daily average net distribution. .5,958.33 Attendance 361,694 Daily average attendance . . . 12,056 Mutuel handle . . , , . , .7,829,265 Daily average mutue! handle 27,642 t ! : . ; ! . ; I : . - : : 1 Leading Money-Winning Owners Owner. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Won. Hasty House Farm 4 12 1,185 Nathenson, Mrs. N. L. 2 0 2 42,070 Wilson, Sam, E., Jr. 6 4 0 41,305 WL Ranch Co. 1 1 0 40,200 W. H. Bishop Stable, Inc. 10 15 11 36,970 Monaghan, J. H. and N. M. 2 3 1 33,775 Affeld, M. A. 3 6 5 24,503 Cavanaugh, G. A. .2 4 2 22,510 Reverie Knoll Farm 1 4 3 22,335 Dixiana 4 1 1 19,160 Leading Money-Winning Horses Horse. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Won. Sea O Erin 10 0 1,800 Blue Choir 2 0 1 41,500 Honeys Alibi 1 1 0 40,200 Scent 2 0 1 31,375 Tiger Wander 2 0 0 29,275 Blue Violin 2 0 0 . 19,375 Smoke Screen 0 3 0 17,000 Mister Black 10 0 16,100 Waikiki i 0 0 13825 Insouciant l 0 0 12900 Leading Winning Jockeys . Jockey. Mts. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Unp. PC. Brooks, S. 194 36 37 30 91 ;19 Adams, J. 172 29 23 29 91 .17 Cook, W. M. 146 18 21 18 89 .12 Popara, A. 126 17 18 12 79 .14 Adams, J. R. 122 16 12 12 82 .13 Carstens.W. . 89. 10 12 8 59 .11 Baldwin, R. 101 9 7 13 72 .09 Dalgo.M. 98 9 14 8 67 .09 Jessop. J. D. "68 9 7 6 46 .13 Scurlock.D. 78 9 12 6 51 .12 Leading Winning Trainers Trainer Wins. Trainer: Wins Bishop, W. H: 10 Simmons, H.O. 6 Johnson, P. G. 9 Ippolito, S. 5 ! Schmidt, W.J. 9 Leach, M. 5 Denham.D. 8 Mavros, A. J. " 5 Winick.A.N. 7 Oglesby.J.L. 5 McMaster, N. A. 6 Trotsek, H. 5 Parke, I. H. 6 Wells, Howard 5 Following is the list of stakes that were decided: Stake. Date. Winner. - Value. La Salle Handicap, May 16; Scent. .0,375 Miss Chicago Stakes, May 18; Waikiki , ....I... 13,825 Continental Turf Handicap, May 21; Mister Black . ," 16,100 Apprentice Stakes, May 25;" Tiger Wander 10,975 Coronet Stakes, May 28; Insouciant 12,900 Citation Handicap, May 30; Sea O Erin 36,800 Honeymoon Stakes, June 4; Blue Violin 16,825 Joliet Stakes, June 8; Tiger Wander 18,300 Balmoral Turf Handicap, June 11; Blue Choir 35,200 Domino Handicap, June 15; Scent. . 13,500 The Chicagoan, June 18; Honeys Alibi ..... 39,400 The percentage of winning favorites was below normal, as shown in the subjoined tabulation: Number of races 252 Winning favorites 78 Winning second choices 49 Winning outsiders 125 Winners at odds-on 12 Defeated at odds-on 5 Percentage of winning favorites - .31 Dead heats 0 for win BALMORAL PRESENTATION Following the triumph of Honeys Alibi in Saturdays 2,500 Chicagoan, J. Samuel Perlman, editor and publisher of Daily Racing Form, second from right, presented a trophy to J. Inzelone, trainer of the W L Ranch colt, second from left, with winning jockey, Don Scurlock, in the center. Kline Weatherford, Balmoral executive director extreme left and Russell Reineman, president of Balmoral right, also are shown.
