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DAY OF SMALL FIELDS Thursdays Program at Saratoga Marred By Many Scratches. Only Four Go in "Amsterdam Stake, Won By Moonraker After a Great Finish. SARATOGA SPRINGS. N. T., Aug. 28. It was little short of disgraceful the way in which the trainers scratched out of the races offered by the Saratoga Association this afternoon. Thirty-nine of the sixty-five that had been named through the entry box were withdrawn and the field was so pruned down that much of the interest was lost in the sport The excuse was that another heavy rain had made the track exceedingly muddy, but it was not excuse enough for a two-horse race and a three-horse race during the day. The largest field of the afternoon only brought out eight starters. The stake offering was the Amsterdam, under claiming conditions over the mile route and it was worth ,800 to the winner. It only brought out four runners and resulted in victory for the Greentree Stables Moonraker by a narrow margin from James W. McClellands Banter and John S. Ward3 Donges was a close third. The only other starter was Mrs. R. I. Millers Wellfinder. Though only four raced here it resulted in a great finish and the race was not decided until the last stride. Wellfinder and Moonraker went out to set pace and Corcoran seemed to be making a mistake in sending the Greentree Stable colt along with a sprinter when he had a mile to negotiate. Banter was rating along back of the pair of them, while Donges was a distant last. Before the stretch was reached Wellfinder was all through but in the meantime Banter had begun to make up ground and as he charged Corcoran became alarmed and drew his whip on Moonraker. Right to the end Banter continued to gain but Moonraker lasted long enough to be winner, though he was tiring badly. In fact both he and Banter were so leg weary that in the last quarter Donges closed with such a rush that he would have beaten the pair of them in another dozen yards. champignol graduates. The opening race was a five-eighths dash for maiden two-year-olds and it saw C. L. Carrolls Champignol that scored from Mr. F. Ambrose Clarks Linrock, while W. LT Hernstadts Ampolac was the one to save third from J. S. Wards The Red by a narrow margin. Linrock and Theo Red were the ones to cut out the pace. They both rushed away from the post into a good lead, but were kept down on the inside where the going was deep. At the head of the stretch Theo Red began to tire and then it was that Kummer made his move in better going with the winner. He wore down Linrock steadily until at the end he was a length to the good and Linrock beat the fast finishing Ampolac a like distance for second place. The second offering was a huge joke when only McAuliffe, Shamrock and Craigthorno went to the post. That is the order in which they finished. McAuliffe went into a good early lead and under restraint was at no time asked to fully extend himself. Craig-! thorne raced in second place while Sham-! rock went along on the inner rail, in the deep going. On the turn out of the backstretch Thur-ber made his move with Shamrock and he soon ran away from Craigthorne but he could not cut down the lead of McAuliffe and the Livingston three-year-old was home a cantering winner. REPARATIONS GOOD RACE. Joseph E. Davis Reparation and II. P. Whitneys Swingalong were the only ones that appeared for the three-quarters of the third race but there was a semblance of contest with Reparation the winner. The reason for the contest was that Maiben on Reparation permitted Parlie, on Swing-along, to steal away into a long lead in tho back stretch. He did not begin to make up ground until nearing the stretch turn and had to draw his whip on the son of Trojan. Reparation closed gamely when called upon but had Parke been able to keep Swingalong straight he might have been winner. As he swung his whip the Whitney three-year-old swerved over into the deep going and as a result was beaten in the closing strides. A great finish resulted in the one mile fifth race when W. Livingstons Biff Bang and Mrs. J. A. Cochrans Olynthus finished in the order name. Olynthus had finished on the outside and it appeared from the j stand that he had won, but the angle is a particularly deceptive one at the Saratoga ! track and unless horses are closely locked i it is hard to pick the winner. I There was a disqualification in the samo , race when J. S. Wards Malt, after finishing third, was set back for roughing in the stretch and that part of the purse awarded t , Continued on sixteenth page.j DAY OF SMALL FIELDS Continued from first page. to F. M. Kellys Sledge. Levoy was the one that set the early pace and Olynthus was rated back of him, with Sledge a distant third and Biff Bang and Malt bringing up the rear. This order was maintained almost to the stretch, where Lovey began to tire and at the same time both Biff Bang and Malt moved up in resolute fashion. While cutting the corner into the stretch Malt seemed to have Sledge in close quarters. Biff Bang was able to como through, but Olynthus was not through and was in firmer footing well towards the outside. He fought every inch of the way home, but it was Biff Bang that got the verdict by a nose, while Malt was only a neck farther away and two lengths before Sledge. Mrs. F. A. Clarks Sweet Ann made a runaway of the five and a half furlong dash for two-year-olds at the end of the card. Charles Ferraros Zero Hour raced into second place, with R. T. Wilsons Hidalgo third, and Mrs. K. E. Hitts Sennacherib a distant third. Sweet Ann rushed into a long early lead and was at no time threatened. Hidalgo raced in second place until well into the stretch, where he swerved into the deep going and Maiben had to pull him up to keep him on his feet. This is what enabled Zero Hour to take the place. As for Sennacherib, he appeared utterly unable to extend himself in the going and was outrun all the way. A ,
