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SUMMERLIKE WEATHER Reflected in Greatly Increased Attendance at Fair Grounds. Veteran Racer Sway Furnishes Outstanding Incident in Sensationally Achieved Victory. . . NEW ORLEANS. La.. Feb. 29. With the return of summerlike weather came a bis increase in attendance at the Fair Grounds and marked activity in the betting pavilion. The sport also benefited by the improvement despite lack of a feature on the card. The best race programmed was a mile and seventy yards dash, in which some fairly good ones met, and it was productive of a spirited finish, with Edward Gray getting the verdict in the last few strides from Sympathy. The pair had drawn away from the others in the. last eighth and were fighting it out furiously, both horses bumping each other slightly, with Edward Gray probably the aggressor, but also a sufferer when Heupel, on Sympathy, struck him sharply across the nose with his whip. The whipping was probably unintentional. Heupel lodged a claim of foul against Edward Gray, but the stewards failed to see merit in his claim and refused to change the original position of the horses. Sympathy was a favorite, being accorded heavy support, with Isosceles next fancied, but rather lukewarmly. He finished in third place. Lily M. showed a dull performance and quit badly after going three-quarters. The veteran and infirm Sway furnished the outstanding incident of the afternoons racing. He started with a lowly band in the sixth race, and was piloted by Blind, whose riding this winter has been decidedly amateurish. TOUGH TIME FOR SWAT. Through timidity Blind took Sway far out of it immediately after the start, with the result that the horse appeared hopelessly beaten in the first quarter. He began moving up some in the next quarter, but offered little encouragement to his backers, who at this stage had given up hope. Dumb-founder, Charles J. Craigmile and Atta Boy H. were far in advance of the others and seemingly were destined to fight it out, but suddenly loomed Sway with a sensational rush and he continued circling around the others at a great rate. Approaching the stretch he was only a couple of lengths away from the leaders and at this stage his supporters lost their apathy and began a great shout of encouragement. He downed Dumbfounder, the leader, an eighth out and then appeared an easy winner, but just when his prospects seemed best Blind began taking matters easy. Another shout, carrying a note of danger, went up, for Irish Pat was coming like a whirlwind and was steadily overtaking Sway. They fought it hard in the last seventy yards, with Sway just lasting to win by a head. He would have been beaten in another stride. Dumbfounder finished in third place. FORM PROYES AWRY. Backers of favorites began poorly and their early bad start was prolonged for most of the afternoon, as choices failed in most instances. BeHe II. was made the choice in the opener, but -she was beaten after a spirited drive by Edward Cebrians Brown Trout. The battle between the pair during the stretch was a terrific one, with the daughter of Troutbeck gradually drawing away from Belle H. near the end. The start in the race eliminated most of the field. Little Jimmy outstaying the others for third place. Mose Goldblatts Patrician proved best of an ordinary band that took part in the second race. Parke kept him out of trouble from the start and drew out at his leisure in tne stretch to win from the outsider Haidee, with Mcintosh in third place. Queen Charming was in a running mood and beat home the others in the third race without great effort to win from Whalebone and Lugs. Lady Rose was the favored one in the race, but Corcoran rode her wide and listlessly from the start. She can do much better. Attilia won in the fifth race after a hard drive to wear down Barleycorn, which had been the leader from the start. Attilia managed to wear Barleycorn down in spite of Langs inability to help her or restrain her from swerving out in the stretch. Anne finished in third place and her poor showing was also due to the incompetent riding she received. The closing dash fell to La Orb, which led from the start and one time was a big margin in advance of the others, but Pete Foy, coming with a good rush, almost wore her down. Royal George landed in third place. The stewards are still continuing their investigations of the sudden improvement shown by St. Michael. Forty horses were excluded from Saturdays card, only two being dropped from the two-year-old dash.
