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THE ROMANS WHEELER HANDICAP. Washington Parks excellent twenty five-day meeting came to a sensational close Saturday when Orimar, carrying 109 pounds, won the last race, which was at one mile, in 1:38 flat, equaling the worlds record for the distance, made recently by Voter at Brighton Beach. Never before in the history of the Washington Park Club has there been such a prosperous meeting. The weather has been fine, the track at all times ha- been fast, the class of horse-racing for the stakes and purses has been far above the average, and last, but not least, the attendance has been far above expectations. Taking the twenty-five days as a whole, there has been an average attendance of over 10,000 a day. The main attraction for the closing day was the mnch-talked-of Wheeler Handicap and it furnished a contest worth going miles to see. The Roman and Pink Coat finished so close together that only the judges could separate them. The Wheeler Handicap, in a sense, is looked upon as the most important feature of the meeting, and owners and trainers figure them--selves gray-headed trying to steal a march OK the handicapper and get a good horse that has raced poorly but worked well in with light weight and make a rich haul. In 1898 the Schorrs got Algol in with 107 pounds and he made a show of his field, but in the race Saturday each horse had enough weight to steady him and from start to finish it was a real horse race. Ten originally accepted their weights for the Wheeler, but two— Tulla Fonso. 101. and Hard Knot. 106— declined the issue. This left Sidney Luca.-. 123. Pink Coat. 117. Jolly Roger. 113. Maty, lit, Advance Guard. 111. The Roman. 104. Croesus. 10.. and Found. 100. to compete for the s.t.000 added money. The -take was worth s",.400 gross and ,215 net to the winner. The eight contenders keyed up to the highest pitch, were called to the post at 3 :" "■ oclock anil instead of parading directly past the Etand after leaving t lie paddock, as the horses heretofore have always done, they fir-t paraded p.t-i the club house or inspection. Each .iif-ferent horse had hi- admirers, but from both the club house and the stand Sidney Lucas -eemel to monopolize the applause. The Derby winner had Bullman up and was . groomed to perfection, but he did not look as I | good as he did earlier during the meeting, and several times on the way to the post he pinned his ears back and showed a disposition to sulk, which is no wonder, considering the hard campaign he has had in the last month. As far as looks went Pink Coat far excelled, and as his number was one he naturally led the procession. In the betting ring before the Wheeler one could hardly elbow his way through the crowd, and it seemed a.- though the entire mob were there to bet on Sidney Lucas, and at 2 to I several fortunes were wagered on him. Advance Guard had second call to Sidney Lucas at 13 to S and it was all the way from 4 to 1 up to 20 to 1 and take your pick against any of the other starters. Starter Dwyer. who, by the way. has been in excellent form all during the meeting, wasted no time in getting the field away for the handicap, and after three minutes delay the familiar cry of "Theyre off!" was heard on all sides. The break was a beauty, with Jolly Roger in front. Found second and Pink Coat third. Pa-sing the stand for the first time Found led Macy by a length and a half, and he was only in front of Pink Coat. Found was the pacemaker throughout, and down the back-stretch to the half mile post she increased her lead to three lengths. On the far turn, however, she began to tire and in fact before the stretch was reached there was a general closing up. When headed for home Advance Guard showed in front, being head and head with Pink Coat. The Roman. Jolly Roger and Sidney Lucas. At the eighth post it narrowed down to a contest between The Roman. Pink Coat and Advance Guard and passing the sixteenth post a single blanket would have covered the trio. Fifty yards out Advance Guard gave it up leaving Pink Coat and The Roman to fight it out and The Roman, with a pull, in the weights, got the decision. Poor Sidney-Lucas was bumped and jostled several times and was obliged to pull up and go around his horses on the far turn, but he made his usual strong bid in the stretch and although beaten he was far from being disgraced. Pat Dunne, who has been out of luck during the meeting, won the fir-t and second races with Gold Badge and Star Chamber. There was a lot of speed in the fourth race which was at one mile and Mr. Brown, to win, had to run in 1 :38i. Second to Mr. Brown was May Beach, who beat George Arnold a head for second place. The latter had started five times this year and won five races and this was his first defeat. Heigh Ho. Flamaro. John Grigsby ami Belle of Holmdel furnished a spectacular finish in the fifth event. The quartet was stretched across the track, making it a difficult task to tell which was first or which was fourth. Heigh Ho. however, got the decision. Fred Foster at last took down a purse with Sam McKeever in the sixth race. Vititoe rode the Foster colt, and placing him cleverly during the early part of the route, he came with a rush in the stretch, beating Einstein by an open length. Orimar. pulled to a walk, ran the mile in the last race in 1 :38 flat. That is, 1 :38 wa- hung out by the official timer, but everyone else on the track who timed the race caught it a second slower, and it may be po-sible that the otlicial timer- made a mistake. Orimars race was quite an improvement over his last performance.
