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BELMONT PARK TOMORROW New Yorkers to Welcome Return of Their Favorite Sport, i Westchester Racing Association Offers Attractive Program for Autumn Meeting. BY C. J. FITZ GERALD. NEAA YORK, X. Y.. August 30. New Yorkers anil the nisui.v thousands of transients within -the hospitable pates of Gotham -who are fond of racing will welcome the thoroughbred tomorrow after a months absence at Saratoga wlien the AVestchester Racing Association will inaugurate a thirteen-day meeting at Belmont Park, one of the most picturesque courses in the world. There have been numerous improvements to the plant since spring. The entire roof of the grandstand has been replaced and an additional seating capacity of 3,000 inaugurated. Xew boxes in the clubhouse and grandstand have also been installed, and the entire place is as bright and inviting as paint can make it. Racing has enjoyed a tremendous degree of popularity this year, and with more than half the season gone the desire for the sport has not diniin- ished, the attendance at Saratoga reaching its climax luring the concluding period of a meeting which will be memorable in the annals of the sport nt that point. The period at the Spa has whetted the appetites of those who were unable to make the journey up-state, and there will bo all the keener interest as a consequence in the- autumn campaign on the metropolitan courses, which will not be concluded until October 25 at Empire City. FUTURITY AND LAWRENCE REALIZATION. The "Westchester Racing Association, through secretary Earlocker, offers a splendid program for the AVestchester Kacing Associations portion of this carnival. Tiie Futurity and Lawrence Realization, for two-year-olds respectively, which were formerly features of the now defunct Coney Island Jockey Club, and which were passed on as a heritage to the Westchester .Racing Association, are among the most treasured of the racing tests of the year. There is perhaps a greater glamour surrounding their history than any other trials of speed held annually in the United States. The Futurity, which will be run on the closing day of the meeting, September 13, was always the feature of the Coney Island Jockey Clubs opening program in the autumn, and what a holiday it was for the throng! Before the days of the automobile thousands of horse-drawn vehicles of every character from stage coach to runabout choked the avenues from New York to Sheepshead Bay from mid-forenoon up to tiie hour of the race, the former with merry luncheon parties, which gave the occasion that holiday touch which somehow is missing today even at our greatest racing functions. GREAT REWARDS OF THE PAST. The Futurity was designed to encourage and foster the rearing of the thoroughbred horse in the United States, and it appealed to breeders everywhere from its inception. The rewards were great it was worth 7,000 in 1S90 when August Belmont, the father of the present chairman of the Jockey Club, was first and second with Potomac and Masher, colts of his own breeding, and it was the dream of every man who owned a thoroughbred mare to capture the prize. James G. K. Lawrence, who framed tlie conditions of the stake, gave tempting weight allowances to the gfct of maiden sires and dams, and there was a further appeal to the breeder in the shape of awards of ,000, $."00 and 230 to the nominators of the first, second and third horses respectively at the finish. The nominations for the race have been tremendous there were no fewer than 500 for the current season and every period of the foals development is eagerly followed by their owners. Interest increases with the age of the candidate. Yearling trials tell something, but it is the active test of two-year-old racing with weight and colors up which count, and so many and promising have the candidates in many seasons been that fields of twenty or more were not uncommon, the record being twenty-four in 1002, when John A. Drakes Savable finished first and earned 50,000. OVER 0,000 GROSS THIS YEAR. Secretary Earlocker has figured this years race as having a value of over 0,000. It would be greater if a less formidable contestant than the Glen Riddle Farms Man o War were not eligible. It was the same in 1007, when the nrighty Colin ilominuted the situation and reduced the, numlcr of starters to eight. The Futurity will furnish the only opportunity mctroiolitaii racegoers will have of seeing Mr. Riddles superb colt this autumn, as ho is to be retired for the season after that race. Should he be successful the breeders award of ,000 will go to Mr. Belmont, and the fortunes of the sport arc illustrated in the fact that the head of the Jockey Club sold as a yearling probably as great a horse as he has bred, not even excepting Tracery. . . . iCpntinjiea on tliird page. . . . , BELMONT PARK TOMORROW Continued from first page. The most formidable o"f Man o Wars opponents in the Futurity would appear to be tiie 11. P. AVhitney candidates Upset. Panoply, Leviathan and AVildair; AV. R. Coes Cleopatra and Masked Dancer. Belair Studs Polysnnda, P. A. Clarks Bonnie Mary, C. AV. Lofts Donnacoiia, AV. A Thraves Ethel- Gray and Rouleau, J. E. Madden Capt. Alcock. Ral Parrs Blazes. J. K. L. Ross King Thrush. Richard Carmans Carmandale and Robert L. Gerrys Feo-dor. The Lawrence Realization, which is at a mile and five-eighths, is estimated as having a value of 5,000 this year. It has been won by many great three-year-olds, and the record for the race 2:45 is held by S. C. Hildreths Fitz Herbert, made in 1909. The most promising of the cligibles are J. K. L. Ross Sir Barton and AVar Pennant, P. A. Clarks Dunboyno and Polka Dot, S. C. Hildreths Cirrus and Lord Brighton, II. P. AVhitneys Aindex and Aexatious and AV. It. Coes Over There and Sweep On. Purchase was never entered for the prize, and Hannibal was unfortunately declared out as a foal. Should Sir Barton not come to hand in linie for the race the contest should assume a much more open character than it.would otherwise possess. NEW WEIGHT-FOR-AGE RACE. Other events that will feature the twelve days program are the Jockey Club Stakes at one mile and u half, for three-year-olds and over, to be run September 13, the closing day of the meeting. This race, which is at weight-for-age and was de-eignQu as a test for the breeders of the country, should be duplicated by every other association under Jockey Club jurisdiction. Through" the medium of such contests some guide will be furnished to those who are trying to produce horses of ltot-tom as well as speed. The"" latter is an essential, but it. is not tin only quality the horse of blood should possess, particularly if he is to improve the other families for war and utilitarian purposes. The race will be -worth 0,000, and of this ,500 has been contributed by the Jockey Club. The eligible list is formidable, comprising such good horses as Cudgel, Sir Barton, Naturalist. Purchase, Sun Briar, Exterminator, Eternal, AVar Pennant, Dunboyne. The Porter. AVar Cloud, AVesty llogan and Aindex. A great race is bound to be the outcome, and for many it will hold a greater charm than any other "event during the .meeting. For tomorrows opening card a good days sport is promised, with the Belmont Park Autumn Handicap at one mile and an eighth, for three-year-olds and over; the Tomboy Handicap, for two-year-old fillies, at five and a half furlongs, and the Broad-hollow StecpKhasu Handicap, at about two miles, arc the stake features. The Jerome Handicap, for three-year-olds, at a mile, will be Tuesdays star event, while on AVeduesday the Mineola, for two-year-olds, will bring out a good field. The crack sprinters will have their inning in the Autumn Uighweiight Hamlicap on Thiu-sday. Overnight races, including a. handicap at., one mile and a quarter, will be the order of the day for Friday. In addition to the Lawrence Realization the Champagne Stakes at seven-eighths will be dccidlj on Saturday. This will bring out all the crack two-year-olds, barring Man o AAar, though lie is among the eligiblcs should bin owner care to send him to the post,
