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i 1 Open Shenandoah Season With Governors Feature ! Sand Boy, Arch Rival Top Field As 62 Nighi Meeting Gets Started By PAT CAUDILL Staff Correspondent SHENANDOAH DOWNS, Charles Town, W. Va., April 30. — Finishing touches were , being applied today as all departments busily readied for tomorrow nights opening of this beautiful modern 4-million dollar racing plant. Shenandoah Downs is a 5-8 mile oval superbly lighted and one | which patrons will find modern in every aspect. The grandstand has a seating capacity of 4,000 with the clubhouse accommodating 1,050 in seats. The plant is I well equipped to handle crowds of more , than 18,000. Tomorrow nights program, highlighted I by the ,000 Governors Purse with Governor Cecil H. Underwood scheduled to attend and present a trophy to the winning owner, will inaugurate the 62 night meeting which will continue through July 11. Nine races will be presented nightly, Mondays ] through Saturdays, with the first race ; going postward at 7:45. Present plans of management are for a stepped up post . schedule which will see the completion of the program by 10:45 p. m. Daily Double „ wagering will be conducted on the first and second races nightly. Heavy rains which prevailed earlier in the week have vanished and the weather forecast is for clear skies to remain through tomorrow. The race oval which is being highly commended by jockeys and horsemen, rapidly dried following the. rains and a lightning fast track seems very probable for the initial card. General manager Robert G. Leavitt stated today with such favorable "breaks" for the opening, management is making plans to handle a crowd of approximately 15,000 fans for the opening program. Governor Underwood with his wife and party, will arrive at Shenandoah Downs around 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon and after a reception and dinner in their honor will participate in opening ceremonies as well as viewing the races. The Governors Purse, an allowance affair for three-year-olds and upward which will be contested at the sprint distance of 6 furlongs, will be offered as the eighth race. The event drew but six starters to vie for the ,000; however, a classy field has been entered and it should provide top-notch entertainment. G. W. Parkers Sand Boy heads the field and gets in with 113 pounds. He will be ridden by jockey Joseph Servis as he seeks his second victory of the year over such as Peter Vischers Arch Rival, W. T. Leather -burys Eastern Hobo and the Montelimer Studs Atys. The field is completed by Continued on Page Forty -Two | Open Shenandoah Season With Governors Feature Sand Boy, Arch Rival Top Field As 62-Night Meeting Gets Started Continued from Page Nine Stanley Jenkins Kings Coat and D. Boules Gang Me. Under the conditions of the event, Eastern Hobo carries top weight of 123 pounds, Atys 117 pounds. Kings Coat 109 with Arch Rival and Gang Me sharing equal weights along with Sand Boy. Sand Boy, a seven-year-old son of Colony Boy — Rose Sand, won a 6-furlong sprint at Bowie on March 4 when racing for a claiming price of 4,000 and appears to have the class to hold a strong edge over his rivals. He won two of his 12 starts last year. Rated chief threat to Sand Boy is Arch Rival, who will be ridden by Stanley Small. The six-year-old son of British Buddy was a three-time winner in 1958, going post-ward 14 times, and this year accounted for a ,500 claiming event at Bowie on March 12. He has trained well over this oval and on Monday night stepped 5 furlongs under the lights in 1 : 03 over a very sloppy racing strip. Atys will be ridden by F. D. Rivera as he strives for his second victory of the year. He was a winner of three of his 11 starts last year. Eastern Hobo has also won an allowance affair this year and will be ridden by Richard Gordon. Kings Coat is the only three -year-old in the field and is rated as having only an outside chance. He will be ridden by Charles McKee.
