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By CLIVE CARNIE
An"-*' N'wwaptn SUIT Writer
During its grand opening Sunday, Great Meadow — ftiture site of the Virginia Gold Cup — showed it is ready to host its first steeplechase meet this fall.
Carriage driving displays, marching and show bands, skydivers and even a jumping mule kept the crowd of about 3,000 amused throughout the afternoon. But the main purpose of the opening was to test Great Meadow’s capability to host a major new steeplechase meet and its crowd next month.
By day’s end, officials and most of the crowd at the new race course near The Plains felt confident the site’s first steeplechase races Oct. 20 would be a success. The number of race tickets Sunday showed just how impressed people were by the new course. More than 200 reserved spaces have been sold for the meet.
“Ticket sales went very well,” Bill Myzk, Great Meadow’s racing secretary, said after the opening. “The forecast for the races looks outstanding as far as number of spectators. We have had a tremendous reception for spaces.”
A sound system — used in the Los Angeles Coliseum during the 1984 Summer Olympics and donated to Great Meadow by an anonymous “neighbor” — was one of the day’s stars. Throughout the afternoon the 24 omni-directional Soundsphere loudspeakers performed flawlessly, broadcasting announcements, commentaries and music to the crowd.
“The system was superb,” said Dan Marvin, general manager of Great Meadow. “I heard not one complaint the whole day. I asked the parachutists if they could hear it at 5,000 feet and
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