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FLINT STONE THE . WINTER HANDICAP CHAMPION - - v CLINCHES TITLE ON CLOSING DAY Adds ,000 Mardi Gras Handicap to His List of Successes, Carrying 126 Pounds and Defeating Some of Best Horses - Racing at Fair Grounds NEW ORLEANS, La., March 4. Flint Stone clinched his title as the best handicap! horse of the winter season when he carried 12G pounds to victory in the Mardi Gras Handicap, with its best stake, ,000 added, featuring the closing day Fair Grounds card, and defeated the stars that have taken part here. Following him closely and striving valiantly to head the leader came Setting Sun, with Thimble in third place. The local jockey, J. D. Mooney, displaced Sharpe as the rider of Flint Stone this afternoon and he kept the McMillen star more prominent than Is his customary style and, picking up the pacemakers after rounding into the stretch, had enough in reserve near the end tu outstay the fast-finishing Setting Sun. "The latter was far out of it in the early stages, but came with a brilliant burst of speed 3in the stretch and was going fully as fast as the winner at the end. Flint Stone conceded him sixteen pounds. Thimbles showing, in view of her many bad performances, was surprising. She held on gamely in the stretcli and finished well. The S. N. Holman stable was represented by Best Pal, Barracuda and Llewellyn, but with the exception of Barracuda the. others did not show to much advantage. Best Pal3 performance, in view of his preceding victory, was a particularly dull one. The real disappointment in the race was Harry Payne Whitneys Revenge. He was favorite and was never a strong factor. He failed at every stage of the race to respond to Parkes strong urging and he finished far back. The net value of the stake amounted to ,410 to the winner, making him the outstanding individual winner of the- Fair-Grounds meeting. LARGE CROWD PRESENT. An attendance of almost record proportions was at the course to view the final days sport and it embraced many visitors from various parts of the country to witness the carnival frolic. They were treated to soma interesting racing and also witnessed most oC the racing stars that have taken part in ti.is winters racing season in action. Activities in the ring were more pronounced than en any day luring the meeting and the forty-six, price quoters were at times swamped to attend the speculatively inclined. Secretary McLennan provided his best offering for the occasion and the card as . whole was not far short of the mid-summer-brand on more pretentious courses. The secondary feature was a three-quarters handicap, in which a quartet of the best hero took part and it afforded opportunity for Certain to atjain demonstrate that he has developed into a crack by the impressiveness with, which he downed Harry Payne Whitneys Rocket, with Centimeter following the pair. It marked the fifth victory that Certain has achieved in six starts. He showed the best performance of his career today, for he appeared hopelessly out of it during the first half mile, but came with great speed in the stretch that carried him past the others with a rush and he had enough in reserve to fight it out successfully with Rocket, when that, one came determinedly in the last eightlv. after getting a clear course. WHEATON EASILY TRIUMPHS. The presence of J. McMillens high-priced Wheaton in the opening number caused a wihdrawal of many from the race, including Barney Google. The latters elimination caused Wheaton to rule a prohibitive favorite and he won in handy style, giving the McMillen colors a double for the afternoon. Confluente had no serious opposition for second place after Neat Girl had practically been left at the post as a result of her making a lunge when the barrier was released. A bad start marred the second race and it resulted in Telescope and Stake Me being eliminated as contenders. The barrier failed to function properly and the tape wrapped around Telescope. He was one of the highly rated ones. Attilia was the winner by a close margin over the poorly ridden Flying Fur with Barleycorn lasting to finish in third place. Telescope closed an immense gap and would have been a strong factor had he gotten off with the others. One of the worst form reversals of tho meeting came in the sixth race, won by Alard. In his last start, when ridden by Wallace, he was beaten off. In explanation the jockey said that he had pulled him up in the belie that he had broken down. Alard came in for extensive support at long odds today and ho raced forwardly from the start and outstayed the favorite, Ramkin, during the stretch drive. The erratic Fannie Bean finished in third place after having been far out of it. for most of the way.
