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EVEN THE SOUTH HIT New Orleans Gets Taste of the Wintry Blasts of the North. Fair Grounds Entertains Smallest Saturday Crowd on Record Exciting Racing. NEW ORLEANS, La.. Jan. 5. The coldest weather that has visited these parts in many years prevailed this afternoon, and as a result the attendance was confined to the deep dyed-in-the-wool regulars. It was the smallest Saturday crowd that has witnessed the racing at the Fair Grounds since the restoration of the sport under the auspices of the business Mens Racing Association. Those who braved the inclement weather were well rewarded, for they witnessed some of the best sport that has been seen this winter. The Pontchartrain Handicap, with ,000 added, and worth ,530 net to the winner, was the outstanding feature, and it furnished a thrilling contest, the victor, Second Thoughts, being forced to her utmost to outstay Certain and Moonraker, which disputed with her every inch of ground during the stretch. The" finish found the trio separated by necks, with Dr. Clark coming fast and Best Pal, the only other starter, giving way steadily after having been a formidable contender earlier in the struggle. The real thrill of the afternoon came with the running of the fifth race, the Alabama Handicap, at a mile and a sixteenth. Some highly regarded ones made the contest here and it resulted in Flint Stone getting up in the last stride to boat O. Henry by a nose, with Barracuda but a neck away and Revenge, the favored one, in fourth place. FLINT STONE BY INCHES. O. Henry, going suddenly improved, moved into a good lead at once and seemed a certain winner in the last eighth, where he still had a lengths margin over his closest pursuer, but Flint Stone suddenly loomed with a sensational sprint and, under terrific urging, just managed to nip O. Henry at the end. Revenge, the stoutly backed favorite, raced sluggishly. He seemingly failed to get in his full stride at any stage of the race and he 4 refused to respond to Parkes strong riding when racing in the stretch. Rama, another expected contender, did not performi in convincing style and he was done for after going half a mile. Jockey Parke again carried off the riding honors with a pair of victories, but his fol lowers had to sustain losses for the first five races before the crack rider managed ti score a success. He won with East Indian in the sixth race, the only favorite that managed to get home in front during the afternoon, and followed in the closing race with a victory on Tulane. He was lucky to win with Tulane, for Fleeting raced as if best, but L. Lang was no match for Parke when it came to riding a finish and Tulane beat him home by a scant half a length. The ro.cing began with a victory for the outsider Times ITp, which heat another outsider. Coral Reef. Doctor Glenn finished in third place. Charles Henry, which has been racing inconsistently in all his races and was a strongly backed one, showed a dull performance and was far out of it all the way. WALNUT nALL IN FRONT. The second race found Neddam the favored one, but Walnut Hall, an outsider, going in his best style, got up to beat Tex by a nose, with Neddam landing third. Idle Thoughts showed a fine turn of speed in the third race, in which some good young-, sters started, but she was lucky to beat home . Boy O Boy and King ONeill II. Boy O Boy was best here, but Blind was unequal to the task when it came to aiding the Bradley representative in the final drive. East Indians victory was achieved in easy fashion after he had been badly outpaced for the first three-quarters. Ramkin, going prominently for the entire way, managed to hold on to second place and Gondolier landed third as a result of Thorndykes incompetency on Margaret "Ware. The concluding dash was expected to be between Duke John and Bendita, and the pair absorbed most of the betting attention. Bendita held on gamely for most of the way and landed in third place, but Duke John retired from activity after going half a mile and in the final drive Parkes superior ability over Li. Lang counted in favor of Tulane. Horsemen were notified during the afternoon that hereafter when claims are made for horses in races, delivery of the horse will be made in the paddock instead of the I former custom prevailing of having the tranfer made at the stable. Jockey F. Thorndykc received several bruises when one of the Grccntree Stable two-year-olds bolted with him nnd crashed through the outer rail. The colt oscancd injury. Jockey Danny Jones, under contract to Pat Knebelkamp, also received minor hurts when he was thrown from one of tho stables horses that he was exercising durng the Xorenoon. 1 i i 1 i t a 1 : i : . i i 1 t
