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THE BELMONT STAKES HISTORY OF THE OLDEST AND GREATEST SWEEPSTAKES SWEEPSTAKESFOR FOR THREE YEAR OLDS 18671921 FROM FROMHOURLESS HOURLESS 1917 TO GREY LAG 1921 BY W S VOSBURGH HOURLESS YEAR The victory of Mr Belmonts colt Hourless for the Withers WithersStakes Stakes proved that he had retained the form that had made 1917 him so successful as a twoyearold and he went to the post postat at 4 to 1 on and making all the pace won by ten lengths lengthswith with Butwell his jockey easing him at the finish Skeptic was second as many lengths ahead of Mr Coes Wonderful Mr Coes starting Wonderful was a most sportsmanlike act he had no idea of beating the others but he was unwilling to see a great race so feebly supported and deemed it an honor to have a representative in it It is this spirit that has made the Derby and St Leger of England so famous Owners of the old school had a spirit above the mere certainty of winning and supported those races with a loyalty they deemed the events demanded Hourless was a black colt bred by Mr Balmont at the Southcourt Stud in England where his dam had been sent from France He was a son of Negofol winner of the French Derby Hourless dam being Hour Glass II by Rock Sand granddam Hautesse imported by Archiduc son of Consul by Monarque Hourless was the best threeyearold of the year He lost the Realization to Omar Khayyam but defeated the latter at Baltimore for the McLean Cup Time 217 Value 5800 JOHSENS YEAR The Belmont winner of 1918 Mr H P Whitneys Johren was almost an unknown until shortly before the race He was a great 1 raw loosejointed colt when he appeared in the spring at the Mary ¬ land meetings and ran ten races before he won a race which whichwas was at Jamaica May 21 He then ran unplaced for the Withers and won an overnight race at Belmont Park June 8 ridden by Frank Robinson and with 10 to 1 against him he amazed the racing world by winning the Suburban with 110 pounds June 15 he won the Belmont ridden by Robinson with 11 to 5 against him beating War Cloud two lengths Cum Sah and Lanius beaten off He then was sent West and at Covington won the Latonia Derby by two lengths beating Exterminator and four others He also won the Huron Handicap and the Saratoga Cup beating Roamer Sunbriar beat him for the Travers but Johren conceded him six pounds Johren was bred in England by Mr H P Whitney and was by the Derby winner Spearmint son of Carbine from Mineola an American mare by imported Meddler He was a bay and owing to his undeveloped form never started at two years old He won the Realization and that ended his career Time of race 255 Value 10725 SIR BARTONS Sir Bartons run of success in the spring events had a depressing effect upon the Belmont of 1919 He had won the Kentucky Derby YEAR 1919 at Louisville and coming to Baltimore had as easily captured the thePreakness theWithers Preakness Stakes Then coming to Belmont Park he had won the Withers Stakes Owners of colts engaged in the Belmont despaired of beating him and when i the day of the race arrived it looked as if he would have a walkover Once again however the undaunted Mr Coe came to the rescue as he had two years previously when he started i Wonderful and now he sent out two colts Sweep On and Natural Bridge Sir Barton in the black and orange of Commander Ross was naturally a strong favorite and won quite easily by three lengths Sweep On eight before Natural Bridge The winner was rather sore ofI when he finished Sir Barton was a chestnut bred by Mr J E Madden and was a son of F Star Shoot Lady Sterling by Hanover He was not a large colt but a very hardy one as his middle piece indicated and was a colt that required a great deal of work He lost every r race for which he ran as a twoyearold but at three and four ranked one of the best horses in training Purchase defeated him for the Dwyer Stakes but at four he won the Saratoga 1 Handicap and the Merchants when he carried 133 pounds conceding eighteen pounds to v Gnome the contender Time 217 Value 11950 MAN 0 WARS The Belmont of 1920 was voted a certainty for the Glen Riddle Farms Man o War after he had 1 o so easily won the Preakness Stakes 3 XCiLK 1J2U hehad at Baltimore Plainly he had not only retained the great form he had shown as a twoyearold but had improved upon it Indeed no colt could have improved more from one season to another than he had done He had grown in 1 height he had thickened and his commanding presence and powerful action made an im pression such as no other horse had in years Nobody cared to start against him and it threatened to be a walkover Mr Coe had r again determined to come to the rescue with David 1 Harum but scratched at the last moment and Mr Loft rather than see the race result in a j walkover started the beautiful Donnacona It was 1 to 20 Man o War which led throughout winning by twenty lengths In the Withers Wildair had given him a semblance of a contest but the Belmont was the most easily won in its long history Man o War a chestnut was bred by Mr Belmont at the Nursery Stud in Kentucky a son of Fair Play from Mahubah by Rock Sand granddam Merry Token imported by Merry Hampton third dam Mizpah by f Macgregor He was never beaten after the Belmont and only once in his career when Upset k defeated him at Saratoga and after defeating Sir Barton in the special race in Canada he retired to the stud sound at the conclusion of his threeyearold year Time 214 Value 2 7950 GREY LAGrS YEAR A better race than for some years marked the contest for the B 1QO1 Belmont of 1921 While the field was again small only four r starting it represented the class of the year as it was always alwaysj intended the Belmont should Besides events had renderec I it a more open race than had been the case previously Leonardo II unbeaten as a two yearold had after ehovving badly seemed to recover his form and won the Withers beating r Sporting Blood Grey Lag Touch Me Not Knobbie Exodus and Montalvo in capital style i = and was favorits closely pressed by Sporting Blood which it was claimed would be better r suited by the Belinont distance than he had been in the Withers Grey Lag had been preparec J 1 for the Kentucky Derby but went amiss and did not start He had won his first race a 1 handicap at Belmont Park early in the meeting but in the race for the Withers he hac J suffered from some interference and could do no better than finish third But ridden by Sande Sandein in the white and green of the Rancocas Stable Grey Lag waited and won in the lasi t quarter by four lengths Sporting Blood beating Leonardo H by a head Grey Lag a chestnut chestnutwith t with a blaze and three white legs and a curious large white mark under his flank was bred by v Mr J E Madden at Hamburg Place Kentucky and a son of Star Shoot from Miss Minnie by Minnieby imported Meddler A plain colt of the angular long muscled type with considerable e i capacity for staying a distance which few horses have in these later days when races are run J with so strong a pace from the start His Brooklyn Handicap race following the Belmont was a asuperb superb themWhat performance as he met horses of all ages with 110 pounds up and outstayed them L What might have happened had not Leonardo II broken down at the moment when he lookec 1 a certain winner we shall never know Grey Lag like most Belinont winners was the colt t of the year Time 2 IG Value 88650 88650People People whose familiarity with racing is of recent date hardly appreciate the Belmont at its true bcyomthe value The majority of the people are too busy with their own affairs to look bcyom j Q the surface of things they do not even think for themselves Instead they depend upon read ing for their information and upon it form their opinions To meet this condition the fashion n of Mudthat the tunes is to use propaganda and the press agent as a vehicle for public information Mud Q that we read is inspired advertisements masquerading as news The result is to render a newspaper something similar to a trade circular Some people might call it prostitution bu the public swallows it Some people might say it is undignified but the greater number woulc a recognize it as unfortunate necessity The Belmont has not been made the subject of propaganda or stimulated popularity in n consequence of which many racegoers will refer to it merely as the fourtli race on the card cardwhile while to the real racing man it is the racing event of the year That the general public shoulc d be brought to a proper understanding of its great importance seems at last to have impresset jj hte Belmont Park Association with the necessity The American public being commercia l measure the importance of things by their monetary value Hence the Bclmont Stakes has is been raised to 550000 value But the public must be reminded of it and reminded of the c date when it will be run reminded of the celebrity of probable starters reminded of their comparative form In short it will need to be kept constantly in the public mind It may be C an unfortunate necessity but to educate the public mind seems to have grown to be a prime e necessity and will be until such time when the public shall have learned to discriminate between the specious and the solid the plausible and the true trueMeantime Meantime the Belmont Stakes ricli i uc traditions of fiftyfive years racing remains g the greatest of threeyearold form As already stated it has been won by more great race ° horses than any other event in this comity It has furnished among its winners more grea it sires of race horses than any other race It is the great race at even weights and may the e best horse win the criterion of class f the mirror of form the standard for breeding and j the winner is usually the colt of the year
