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| AQUEDUCT NEXT SATURDAY r 9 Queens County Jockey Clubs ; Meeting Promises Good Sport. • • Brooklyn Handicap the Opening Day Attraction • — Some Interesting Facts in History of Noted Race. 1 NEW YORK, N. Y., June 9.— With the close I of the Belmont Park meeting on Friday next, , all roads for turf lovers will lead to Aqueduct, - where the twenty-day period of the J Queens County Jockey Club will begin, with i the Brooklyn Handicap and the Bayside Steeplechase as the chief attractions. There is every indication that the brilliancy - of the Belmont Park meeting will be sustained . at Aqueduct where the same horses ; that furnished such splendid sport during the Westchester meeting are engaged in i events that have a background bristling with L interest. Most conspicuous of the races for • three-year-olds and over at Aqueduct is the Brooklyn Handicap which has a value of • 0,000 and is run over the mile and an eighth course. The fact that horses racing over this distance . at Aqueduct have a straight run of half i a mile after the start has caused experts to , pronounce it the finest proving ground for . horses at the distance in the United States. The turn is gradual, and the run to the finish [ sufficiently long for the best horse to win in , a majority of instances. Because of this fact the fine old test inaugurated in 1887 possesses attractions for the race-going public . at large. The original conditions framed by Hugh D. Mclntyre, who was for many years secretary of the Brooklyn Jockey Club, called for a race at a mile and a quarter, but it . was reduced a furlong in 1915 in order to take advantage of the ideal conditions for , a race of that distance at Aqueduct. The , event is a heritage from the Brooklyn Jockey , Club, which virtually owned the Queens . County Jockey Club. The race was originally . j run at Gravesend in territory now largely . i built upon, but which in its earliest days was | surrounded by market gardens.. When the first Brooklyn Handicap was offered, racing in the vicinity of New York had no governing body. Proprietary organizations built tracks and offered programs. Continued on sixteenth page. AQUEDUCT NEXT SATURDAY Continued from first page. There was no agreement on the question of dates. The Coney Island and Monmouth Park Association often raced against Brighton Beach, and on occasions Grav.esend conflicted with Jerome Park. Bitter rivalries were engendered and there was a lack of the harmonizing influences that have made for the betterment of the turf since the establishment of the Jockey Club. The Brooklyn Handicap was intended to rival the Suburban, offered by the Coney Island Jockey Club, three years previously at Sheepshead Bay. From the start it assumed a place of the first importance in the world of racing. It is at the same distance and of the same value as the race framed by J. G. K. Lawrence and when an agreement was finally reached between the Coney Island and Brooklyn Jockey Clubs as to dates, with the latter opening the season, the Brooklyn assumed a position of paramount importance as the first big race of the year. The weights allotted by Mr. Mclntyre were announced early in the winter. It was a medium for speculation and gossip wherever turfmen congregated, not only in the east, but throughout the country. The outcome of the initial running of the event furnishes a fitting illustration of this fact, as Dry Monopole, owned and trained in New York won, wih Blue Wing, owned in Pittsburgh and trained in Kentucky, second, while third place went to Hidalgo, owned and trained in California. While Dry Monopole won the first Brooklyn Handicap for Sam Emery, noted soldier of fortune, operating one of the biggest books in the ring, the general belief at the time was that Blue Wing should have gained the honors. Garrison was criticized for waiting too long with the handsome son of Billet, but it is easy to find fault on such occasions and none but the rider of the horse could tell of the difficulties encountered in a field of such proportions. As it was the three horses finished heads apart in an epic struggle. There have been other great races for the Brooklyn Handicap, but the first will never be forgotten by those who saw it It is a matter of record that there has never been a Brooklyn Handicap that lacked a thrill. Among the good horses on its winning roster are The Bard, Tenny, Sir Walter, Kinley Muck, Irish Lad, Fitz Herbert. Whiskbroom II., Friar Rock, Cudgel, Grey Lag and Exterminator. Perhaps as good a finish as was ever seen for it was that between Exterminator and Grey Lag in 1922, when the former won by a nose only. There are elements of a great contest engaged for the Brooklyn of 1924. Old Mad Hatter will prefer the route to that of the Suburban which he won so gallantly. He, Zev, Bracadale and Mad Play are all eligible to start for the Rancocas Stable. Enchantment, Transmute and Klondyke are the Whitney trio that look best. The remainder of the field will no doubt be recruited from Rialto, Little Chief, Prince of Umbria, Little Celt, Thorndale, Spot Cash, Shuffle Along, Martingale, Dunlin, Mr. Mutt, Homestretch, Aga Khan, My Own, My Play, King Solomons Seal, Sun Pal, R?venge and Irince James. From present indications, the field will be more generous than that for the Suburban, but if the contest is as good, the public will enjoy a rare treat. A .
