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CHOICES IN ECLIPSE Every Jefferson Park Favorite Goes Down in Defeat. Bad Track Conditions Continue, but Big Crowd Turns Out to View the Racing. NEW ORLEANS, La., December 12. It was a disastrous day for favorites at Jefferson Park and the layers operating this afternoon reaped a harvest. The first choices were downed decisively, some of them stoutly supported. To make the layers success more complete well-backed second choices also were mowed down. The track was a difficult one drying in spots and heavy at others. Time was necessarily slow, the best mide being 1 :45. The entire card was featureless, the six races all being claiming dashes. The better offering was the fourth race, at three-quarters, in which some fairly good ones met, and it resulted in a victory for Last Effort, which Corcoran kept in the lead from the start and won from William A., a first-time starter at the meeting. Hadrian, the favorite, finished in third place. The worst overthrow came with the closing dash,in which Mary Agnes S. was an odds-on favorite, but was taken into camp in easy fashion by Kirah, which Corcoran rushed into the lead at once and under strong riding kept her in the lead until the finish. His alertness at the barrier helped in his victory, for Kirah had somewhat the best of the poor send-off. The best finish of the afternoon developed in the fifth race, won by Minute Man from Rib Grass by a nose, with Dantzic, Frank W. and Cantilever separated by heads from the leading pair. Seventy yards out it was a toss-up which one of the five would get to the finish in advance. Cantilever probably was best today and his showing this afternoon was strikingly in contrast with his last previous race. HIGH SPEED FAILS BACKERS. High Speed, in which Ensor had the mount, began the woes of the backers in the opener when he failed of even getting a place, after having been supported in confident style. The winner turned up in Ukase, ridden by Lang. Fernandos took second, with Lec Fisher third. Marjorie Wood had the call in the second race. She finished second, Irish Pat winning easily, with The Muleskinner, an outsider, third. Dimples and Matinee Idol absorbed betting attention in the third race. They were both beaten home by Mock Orange, an outsider, which showed the most speed throughout, Accelerate, under strong riding, taking second place from Dimples. Hadrian and William A. were the offending choices in the fourth. Frank W. and Camouflage in the fifth and Mary Agnes S. and Bees Wing in the final. E. R. Bradley, master of Idle Hour Farm, telegraphed that he would arrive Friday to remain until after the first of the year. His horses that will campaign this winter are quartered at the Fair Grounds. Secretary Joe McLennan of the Fair Grounds stated this afternoon that the New Years Handicap of ,000, that will feature the opening days card, will be at a mile and a sixteenth. It will be for three-year-olds and over. There will be a entrance fee and starters will have to make a payment of 0. Entries will close December 23. JOCKEY SUMTER DEAD. H. Sumter, who rode with much success for W. H. Karrick, died today in New York after a long illness, according to advices received here this morning. Jockeys Lang and Corco.ran divided riding honors during the afternoon, each having two victories to his credit. Forty-one layers were in line this afternoon, including Tom Shaw, who joined the laying ranks for the first time at this meeting. The attendance was again large. The weather was summery during the early part of the afternoon, but the thermometer began dropping steadily after the fourth race ana predictions are for cool weather tomorrow. The task of registering horses for the coming Fair Grounds meeting will begin tomorrow. A big increase over those racing at Jefferson Park will be shown, as the yearlings will have to go on the books, and there are plenty of them on hand. Twenty-seven horses were excluded from three races on todays program, three from the first and twelve each out of the fifth and sixth. Jockey E. Scobie will do the heavy riding for T. E. Crist for the remainder of the win- ter season. R. T. "Dick" Watts is making his engagements. Jockey McCoy made his debut today on Short Circuit in the opening race. Pat Knebelkamp evidently plans to have a jockey for each horse in his stable. In addition to Jones and William Heinisch, he now has Louis Wirth, a twenty year old lad, who hails from Covington, Ky. Knebelkamp is in hopes of developing a rider from Jones or Wirth to take the place of Albert Wilson, whose contract he sold for a good sum last spring.
