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THE PICKET IS LAME AGAIN. NO MORE THAN A DOZEN STARTERS EXPECTED FOR THE SUBURBAN. H. K. Knapp Pays for the Annual Dinner Another Disastrous Day for Speculators Lyne Draws a Suspension for Two Days. New York. June 18. Tlip most interesting, if not. the most formidable factor in the Suburban Handicap, which Is to be decided Thursday next, lias been eliminated by the present disability of The Picket, which is suffering from a bruised foot. It is announced that his starting is out of the question. The recent work of the noted western horse has been of pronounced merit and lie was highly esteemed for the big race by observant experts. Assistant Secretary Smith of the Coney Island Jockey Club does not believe that this years Suburban field will exceed twelve In number. "The probable starters are dwindling down to a very small proportion of wbat there were In the original entry list." said Mr. Smith today. "We have a very poor lot of handicap horses this year and they are growing fewer every year for some reason or other. So much so that In five years time there will he little or nothing in the handicap division except some selling platers." There is considerable speculation as to whether Davy Johnson intends to take another long chance with his big sprinter Roseben, by sending him for the Suburban, now that almost all the good horses are out of training. Despite unfavorable weather and track conditions, the racing at Gravesend today was above the average. Exclusive of Shot Gun, the lukewarm favorite in the first race, outsiders were uniformly successful. It was another disastrous day for the speculatively inclined public. Lynes ride on Roseben was severely criticised, yet this jockey, who was accused on all sides of riding to lose, was actually punished for betraying undue anxiety to get away from the post. The stewards suspended him for two days on complaint of starter Cassidy that he had been disobedient at the post in the opening race. . The sporting event, the Astoria Stakes, sometimes called the "Dinner Stakes," for two-year-old lillles at Jive furlongs, resulted in a tremendous.jsp-wct. "H." K. Knapps Sandrlrigham filly. Hyperbole, an outsider in the betting, won with comparative ease from Golden West and such a good one as R. T. Wilsons Adoration, which, at odds of 2 to 5, carried I the hopes and bankrolls of nearly every plunger on i the track. Aside from the gambling fiasco involved in the result, no one begrudged Mr. Knapp the honor of acting as host at tonights Waldorf-Astoria dinner which is one of the conditions Imposed on the owner of the winner. A western bookmaker named Gaseoine, said to have ? been backed by C. E. Durnell, who has been doing business on the metropolitan tracks since earlv spring, has dropped a bankroll of 5,000 and it is ! said lie is in debt to the ring for another ,000 worth of markers. There was a sensational rumor that he had welched for 0,000, but this was found I to be untrue. The death of Sysonby was an absorbing topic of conversation . at the track today. Universal regret was i expressed over his demise and it was generally agreed that the American turf lost its greatest race : hcrse with the passing of this splendid thoroughbred. . Sysonbys liver was found to be of extraordinary size and weighed 05 pounds. The normal weight of a horses liver is said to be only 10 pounds. One prominent veterinary diagnosed his mortal ailment t as cirrhosis of that organ. The kidneys were also found to be abnormal in size. It is rumored that the insurance for 00,000, taken out on the Melton i horse when a two-year-old and renewed when a i Ihree-year-old, had been allowed to lapse.
