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Ascot Park I By R E Hurley The Whole Towns Talking About Billmike Gelding Idol of Racegoers in Akron Area Look for Him to Take Gold Cup on May 17 17ASCOT ASCOT PARK Cuyahoga Falls Ohio May 8 The whole town is talking about that Billmike horse From every barber shop newsstand shoe shine parlor gas ana corner spot in the neighborhood pub the talk is about Billmike Most of the conversation will start with well take good care of MY horse today or how do you think OUR horse is going to do in the Gold Cup Saturday To the hometown folks here in Akron they now have a contender for their own heavyweight champion ¬ ship of horse racing the Ascot Gold Cup which will have its 18th consecutive running here at two miles OP May 17 The Akron idol takes the form of the sevenyearold gelding Billmike hand picked by trainer Cy Bellinger to carry the hopes of 103 shareholders who purchased this England Head Sea gelling from Albert J LaCoste recently in Maryland with the expressed purpose of running in the Gold Cup this year x xThough Though there is a 10000 purse to shoot at in the two jniles handicap the moving spirit behind the pur ¬ chase snowballed so rapidly once it had been con ¬ ceived that publicity director Bill Griffiths thinks he could have had 500 subscribers to the Single Gee Stable which is the nom de course of the 103 stockholders who pay the board and training bills on Billmike BillmikeProminent Prominent Citizens Form Stable StableUnlike Unlike previously cooperative ownerships such as the group of newspapermen and TV celebrities that owned Pounditout Jr a few years baciT the Single Gee group is made up of Akronites who are the leaders in finance law and society in this area and who seldom attend the races as a matter of routine Many put up their 50 investment to satisfy their wives or to go along with the idea or to have a good sporting time with a fad which simply fireballed after Griffiths and Bob Wolfe talked about it last winter Wolfe head of a local advertising agency got the first few prominent citizens interested and has been designated as presi ¬ dent of the Single Gee Stable and the horse has been leased to him personally by the group to cover the rules of the Ohio Racing Commission CommissionTwice Twice now Billmike Jhas been entered here at Ascot and on both occasions the Ohio Sportservice concession ¬ aires in the clubhouse were swamped with reservations Under the unique conditions for the impending Gold Cup Billmike must place at 1 916 miles to become eligible for the long grind on the 17th but Billmike should have no trouble qualifying at the extended distances distancesHe He lowered the track standard at Sunshine Park this winter for 11 furlongs with a race that brought him a speed rating of 129 the highest of the entire winter season in the Sunshine State The appeal of this horse in the city of Akron can be summed up by a remark overheard last Saturday night after the Ken ¬ tucky Derby had been run and rerun and one voice piped up Never mind Silky Sullivan what about Bill ¬ mike in the Cup CupOutline Outline Conditions for 10000 Feature FeatureAccording According to the conditions of the Gold Cup a horse must have competed at the current meeting to be ¬ come eligible to start in the 10000 event Henry cards a series of mile and 916 races with the horses fin ¬ ishing in the money positions having preference in the final Gold Cup field Owners with more than one qualifier must declare preference with the one horse they want to represent them regardless of the number of the qualifiers they might have The design keeps the money among the horsemen that have been help ¬ ing the entire race meeting and with the purse split down to seventh money it has proved very popular with them themPete Pete Maxwell seems a cinch to better his own train ing record at this meeting Has already sent out 20 winners here which is just five below his 1954 mark Jockey room custodian Benny Cruickshank boasts that Ascot riders are among the best fed in the nation Tabby Ringold former second chef at the Fla ¬ mingo Hotel in Dallas is running the kitchen in the jockeys room Serves roasts stews and other fine dishes for the riders Exjockey James R Layton arrived here from Maryland with his threehorse stable ready to embark on his new trainingcareer Layton rode 581 winners in a two decades career including winners of Jiurdle and jumping races Bill Crump recently arrived to take up his post in the placing judges stand here L D Moore has a running filly under his care in Ballet Girl She already has won four races here and just missed her fifth by a half length the other day Chuck Bang is back again on the Ascot mike Jimmy Doyle named for the col ¬ umnist of the Cleveland Plain Dealer has now won his last two races at Churchill Downs and is headed this way with the public stable of Tommy Stevens Will be active at ThistleDown Gail Parker who was a favorite jockey at Ascot a few years ago is back with his public stable after campaigning at Gulfstream Park this winter Carlyle Johnson a steward at Water ford Park said that the plant has been given a com ¬ plete facelifting by Its new owners He was former publicity director there in 195054 under the late A J Boyle
