view raw text
WONDERFUL DUEL IN MUD i - n Captain Alcock and Thunderclap Provide Some Glorious Racing. . t- Rain and Blue Pencil Mar Promising Card at Aqueduct - . Frigate a Failure. a NEW YORK, N. Y., September 21. Rain and the blue pencil played havoc with a most promising card at Aqueduct today. The stake feature, the Bayvlcw Handicap, of ?3,000 added, for three-year-olds and over, at one mile and a sixteenth, suffered inost. Only two of the five overnight acceptances .contested its twelfth running. As a general rule two-horse races are unpopular and seldom provide a real contest. Todays race was, however, a glorious, exception. Thunderclap, with 12S pounds up. and Captain Alcock, carrying 114, furnished one of the greatest turf duels witnessed on a metropolitan course .in some time. The Rancocas racer was the favorite and the pacemaker. He set n dazzling pace for the going, the quarter in 24a, the half in 473, three-quarters in l:12Jf. and the mile in 1:375. Right at his side was Captain Alcoclr every inch of the way. They raced like a team and the spectatorn were on their feet cheering enthusiastically. In th last quarter Captain Alcock repeatedly swerved against Thunderclap, but under Rices vigorous riding took a small lead in the last -sixteenth and passed the judges a half length ahead of the Rancocas star. Thunderclap finished gamely, but tiring under his heavy impost. It was a -wonderful race and the vanquished was as generously applauded as the victor. Leghorn scored an easy victory in the. first race, a dash of five-eighths of si mile for two-year-old fillies. Theo finished second, and Juno third. Atta Gal was the favorite, but she appeared slightly son; going to the post, and never figured prominently in the running. Leghorn was neglected by the public because Hhe was ridden by G. Breuning, who, previous to this race, had never ridden a winner.- Bmening, however, got the Celt filly away ahead of her opponents, and she reveled in the muddy going. She was .never in serious danger of defeat and kept in front all the way. Theo and Juno were both troubled in the early running. Juno started slowly, was shuffled" back in the first eighth, while Theo was forced wide at the turn. Both fiu-ished fast through the "stretch. KNOBBIE AT HOME I2T GOING. Rancocas Stable scored easily with Kilobbie in the Sun Briar llighweight Handicap at three-quarters of a mile. Dry .Moon, another good mud runner, was second and Gladiator beat Blazes for the short end of the purse. Because of his good showing when he finished second io Duuboym; on a soft track Saturday, Gladiator was made fa-, vorite, but he did not appear to care for the brand of mud on tap today and was through after going a half mile. Samle sent Ivnobbie to the front at the start arid the Wrack colt kept ahead e;isily all the way. .Dry Moon found the goiiig satisfactory and continued in closest pursuit of the leader, but he was not fast enough to keep pace with the winner. He finished two lengths back, holding second place by the same margin from Gladiator. Mariuelli took a long clmiice and won wilh Es-carpolette, the outsider in "the third race at one mile. He took Jier fur to the outside into the less sticky footing at the turn, while the other three starters were fighting it out close to the inside rail. The ground lost by this maneuver wiia regained when Escarpoletto, staying in the better going through the stretch, closed with a rush under a hard drive and reached the finish close to tin; outer rail a length and a half ahead of Chateau Thierry, with Genie W. in third place. Frigate was sent to the front at the start by Schuttinger. who kept the Frizzle gelding racing at a hot pace for the going. At the three-quarters post Frigate was tired of mud and speed and apparently decided to save his remaining strength for another day. Chateau Thierry had many other things besides the mud to contend with. Siie was forced to bathe her ankles in mud close to the inside rail all the way by the repealed crowding and bumping of tlit! others. She raced well in spite of this and had the others beaten -when Escarpoletto "dropped out of the clouds" with her winning challenge. The time for the race was remarkably fast when the coudition of the track is considered. The winner covered the distance in l:39-;f,. Tlie veteran turfman, David Gideon, upset calculations in the fifth race, a dash of one mile, when Vulcanize led home Fluff and La Kross. The latter was the favored one in the speculation, but lacked early speed, while Vulcanize showed the way from start to finish.
