The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-03-29
Two New Tracks at
Quinsigamond.
A HALF AND A MILE.
Bonanza For Local Horse
men Practically Assured.

| A project is on foot, the consumma-
ton of which will be of great value to
| horsemen. 1t is the fitting up of Full
Moon track at Quirsigamond Park to
make 1t as good a track as the horse
men of Worcester and vicinity desire,
and when the horsemen Of Worcester
are satisfied, nobody else will have a |
license to find fault, for the horsemen
Of this city are not content with any
thing but the best
H. Fl. Bigelow, owner of the grounds, |
and Holt & Irwin, the lessees, have
been in earnest consultation for several |
days past regarding the project. They
have sized the project up from all points |
of view and are looking with great |
favor on tha plans which they have
been considering. They have consulted |
Arthur w. Woods, surveyor in the
Knowles building, who has been pre-
pairing plans for two new tracks, a mile |
and half mile, in place of the present |
mile track which exists at Quinsiga- |
mond Park. Mr.. Wood has been fur
nished with a plan of the present track |
and the grounds surrounding it which |
could be utilized in the making of a |
new mile track. He has made plans for
new mile track and also for a new
half mile track, the stretches of which
would be included in the mile track.
AS soon as the weather allows, Mr. |
Bigelow intends to have Mr.. Woods
View the track and grounds for the pur-
pose of making an estimate of the
amount of work which will be required
to carry out the plans which he has
hmade and also make an estimate of
what it will cost to perform the work
| Mr.. Bigelow thinks the cost will not
amount to enough to hinder the build
| ing of the tracks if there is a DISPOSE
| ton among horsemen to use the tracks
when built. On this point there can be
| little doubt. There are many horsemen
| in Worcester who are pleased with the
! location, thinking it preferable to some
of the sites which have often been sug-
| gested for trotting tracks. The drive toI
the grounds is not a long one and the
route by way of the street cars and
| steamers convenient. If successful rae
| ing could be instituted at Full Moon
and crowds headed that way there is
! hardly any doubt that the Consolidated
| Street Railway Company would build
a spur track across the fields from the
| Grafton street line to the track. The,
| building of spur line to other sites
| is suggested and in several instances
| the distance of the trotting track from
! the main line is greater than from
| Grafton road to Full Moon.
| There are few bad failings in the
| present full moon track and it is these
| failngs that Mr. Bigelow intends to
| correct. The principal one is the bad
turn on the southeast corner of tine
| track. That it is a bad turn no one
| questions for an instant. 1t is so sharp
| that racing around it is like twisting
around a stake, The back stretch is
| not as good as it might be. 1t Is not
| straight line from turn to turn as
in other tracks, but winds in and out
like a country road. Mr., Bigelow's
plan is to make good turn ct the low
err end which will swing the entrance
into the back stretch farther east than
now and thus enable the making of
straight stretch. There is plenty Of
room in which to do the work. In the
! park there are altogether So acres of
| land. The lower turn could be made
much wider than it is at present and
the plans which Mr. Woods has made
| show good turn. 1t is sharper than
| the average turn of a mile track but
none too sharp to handicap a horse or
diminish his speed while making the
| turn.
The present track is trife too hard
for horses feet and would not be
good place on which to train them reg
ularlv. That fault can be easily RENE
died by covering the track with loan
and making it soft enough for horses,
In the plans which Mr.. Woods has
made, the present back stretch is en-
tirely eliminated. The back stretch IS
| moved several feet east Of its present
location 1t will join it's present loca-
ton about where the north turn be-
gins. To swing the back stretch to the
| east, it will be necessary to make Sew
eral fills and cuts. Two Of the fills
| will be large ones as there are TWO
| great hol1ows east of the present track.
But that work will not entail much ex-
| pense for the gravel can be obtained
on the spot there being several hill
| ocks within the track which can be cut
away.
The plan for the half-mile ring creates
| new turns only. The stretches of the
half-mile ring will swing into those of
the mile ring and the shorter distance
obtained by cutting off the distance of
the stretch. In doing this a better
turn can be obtained than for the mile
ring. Mr. Woods has told Mr.. Bige-
low that the turns which can be made
for the half mile ring will be almost
the same as those which exist at the
fair grounds tracks. Those are good
enough for any track, and the half-mile
! ring at Full Moon can be MADE CORK
ing good one.
There are slight grades in the Full
Moon track as it now stands, but the
chances are no attempt would be made
to change them. In all good tracks
there are slight grades, the purpose Of
which is to give the horse a change
of pace which keeps him at his best
endeavor throughout the distance.
There was once a half-mile track at
Full Moon which ran at right angles
to the present track. Its lines have
been lost for years and no attempt has
ever been made to locate them. Mr.,
Il Bigelow does not propose to resurrect
the old half-mile track, BY making
new one which will have the same
stretches as the mile track, the grand
: stand which is at the park can be used
in the races on both tracks.
One advantage which Full Moon has
ever many tracks is the length of its
stretches. The track is in the form Of
? an elipse with small turns. The
stretches are considerably longer than
on the usual mile track and the finish
is down grade slightly which gives the
, horses good encouragement closing a
race The track today Is only few
seconds slow. and properly fitted up
would be as fast as the average mile
track anywhere.
The plans proposed contemplate the
building of stables for the horses which
train and race there. At present there
is not a single shed near the north end
, of the track but If the plans are car
, ried out as they are being made COM
modious buildings will be erected for
the convenience Of horsemen.
Several horsemen were Informed Of
/. | the DrOiect Yesterday and all were