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RACING _ . ■ AT BELMONT PARK ! S» TODAY -A RICH STAKE PROGRAM ■ - Westchester Associations Money Distribution Nearly 50,000. ♦ Daily Average Is About 2,000, — Toboggan Handicap One of Opening Day Features. ♦ NEW YORK. N. Y.. May 16.— Belmont Park, one of the grandest, most completely equipped and appealing of the worlds racing places, is ready for another twenty-one-day season of sport. All about the trees are in full leaf, while the infield and the lawns are carpeted luxuriously with rich grass. 3 By the thousands, devotees of racing, native New Yorkers and visitors from all parts of the country, will be journeying to Belmont Park for three weeks and a half. If any of them ever tire of racing they may easly amuse themselves by wandering about looking at the trees and the flowers. Since Mr. Widener became president of the Westchester Racing Association, Belmont Park has become a vast botanical garden, a full square mile in area. About 50,000 will be distributed in the stakes and purses in the course of the meeting that will begin tomorrow to continue uninterruptedly through to June 10. Last year the distribution was only a little more than 00,000, but purses are going up. A daily average of nearly 2,000 is not exceeded anywhere in the world. The stake program for the meeting follows : Friday, May 17 — International Steeplechase Handicap. Aliout two miles. Toboggan Handicap, for throe-year-olds and over. Three-quarters mile. Saturday, May 18 — Keene Memorial, for two-year-olds. Four and a half furlongs. I.adios" Handicap, for three-year-olds and over. One mile. Monday, May 20 — Debut Stakes, for three-year-olds that have never started. S»ven-eihths mil". Tuesday, May 21 — Hollis Claiming Stakes, foe three-year-olds and over. Three-quarters mile. Wednesday, May 22 — Swift Stakes, for threes year-olds. Seven-eighths mile. Thursday. May 23 — Bouquet Claiming Stakes, foe two-year-olds. Four and a half furlongs. Friday, May 24 — Aiken Hunters Steeplechase, About two and one-half miles. Saturday, May 25 — Charles L. Appleton Memorial Steeplechase. About two miles. Metropolitan Handicap, for three-year-olds and over. One mile. Monday, May 27 — Overnight events. Tuesday, May 28 — Maturity Stakes, for four-: year-old3. One and one-quarter miles. Wednesday, May 29 — Harlem Claiming Stakes, for three-year-olds and over. One mile. Thursday, May 30 Decoration Dayl — Juvenile Stakes, for two-year-olds. Five-eighths mile. Withers Stakes, for three-year-olds. One mile. Friday, May 31 — Overnight events. Saturday, June 1— Corinthian Steeplechase Handicap. About two miles. Suburban Handicap, for three-year-olds and over. One and one-quartee miles. Monday, June 3 — Overnight events. Tuesday, June 4 — Fashion Stakes, for two-year-olds. Four and a half furlongs. Wednesday, June 5 — Coaching Club American Oaks, for three-year-olds. Fillies. One and three-eighths miles. Thursday, June 6 — Meadow Brook Steeplechase Handicap. About two and one-half miles. Friday, June 7 — Overnight events. National Stallion Stakes, for two-year-olds. Five-eighths mile. Saturday, June 8— Belmont Stakes, for threes year-olds. One and one -half miles. Monday, June 10 — Speed Handicap, for three-year-olds and over. Five and a half furlongs. The first days features, the Toboggaa _ -_£ Continued on twelfth page. RACING AT BELMONT TODAY Continued from first page. Handicap and International Steeplechase, will attract sprinters and jumpers. Potential starters in the Toboggan, oldest and most popular of metropolitan sprint races, a Bal-mont Park legacy from Morris Park, where it was instituted in 1890, are Osmand, whose burden will be 129 pounds ; Polydor, 123 ; Sun Edwin, 120 ; Petee-Wrack. 120 ; Mowlee, 119 ; Propus, 115 ; Extreme, 115 ; Bal.ko, 110 ; Byrd. 109 ; Finite, 108 ; Chestnut Oak, 108 ; Battleship Gray, 106 ; Sua Meddler, 104 ; Cowlick. 104. Possibly as many as twenty-five will start. There are upward of ninety eligibla and all horses hereabout are fit. thanks to a mild spring. The Toboggan has an added money value of ,000 and generally pays its winner about 0,000. Possible participants in the International Steeplechase are Fairmount, which won the renewal of 1926 ; Bangle, which won last years revival; Lizard, Eider, Bellephogjr, Arc Light, Beelzebub, Rubigny, Taras Hall, Redbridge, Coronel and Warfain. But this is only a guess. The International field will muster fifteen head. The winners share of the purse will be about ,000 and in proportion to the whole there are more fit steeplechasers on Long Island than flat racers. Beelzebub is the jumping ace of the stable of Fdward Riley Bradley, who, with Blue Larkspur, which won last seasons renewuls of the Juvenile and National Stallion Stakes, at Belmont Park, appears to be on the eve of winning his third Kentucky Derby. Beelzebub bears a very close relationship to Blue Larkspur. Black Servant sired both of them. Vaila. his dam, is the dam of Blossom Time, the dam of Blue Larkspur. Winner of la.t years revival at Harbor Hill at Aqueduct, Beelzebub confirmed his three-year-old form at Pimlico a fortnight back hy winning a revival of the Green Spring Valley Steeplechase. Beelzebub and Redbridge, the last named tl 6 property of John R. RIacomber, on Pimlico form are the best four-year-old jumping prospects about. There were only about csix inches between them at the finish of the Green Spring Valley, which was a gallop of two miles. The most richly endowed of Belmont Parks steeplechases will be the Appleton Memorial. When Bangle defeated Fairmount and Jolly Roger in last seasons revival he earned ,200. The purse was 0,000. The Corinthian and the Meadow Brook steeplechases will have about the same values as the International. The Aiken Hunters Steeplechase, the inaugural cf which was won last year hy Rock of Cashel, with Belphegor second, will be restricted to non-professional riders, • f which there are a number of stars in the country just now. The Withers and the Belmont Stakes, the Westchester Associations spring specials for three-year-olds, should gross about 10,000. Victor E. Schaumburg, the ultra conservative clerk of the course of Belmont Park, figures that the Withers stakes should have a value of about 5,000, the Belmont about 5,000. The writers notion is that the fields in both will be large. The bigger the field the bigger the purses. There are many good three-year-olds about this spring with no outstanding stars, and 115 of these horses are still in the Withers and 68 in the Belmont. The Coaching Club American Oaks should attract ten or a dozen three-year-old fillies and gross about 0,000. After the Toboggan the best of Belmont Parks stakes for three-year-olds and over are the Metropolitan and Suburban Handicaps. The Metropolitan is the countrys oldest and most popular race of one mile, the Suburban, a heritage from Sheepshead Bay, the oldest and most popular race of one mile and a quarter. The impending renewals of these two annunls should pay their winners 5,000 and 0,000, respectively. The Keene Memorial Saturday should gross about 0,000. The Juvenile Stakes on Decoration Day about 2,000, the National Stallion Stakes, June 8 Belmont Day, about 5,000. These are the most important of the countrys spring and summer annuals from the money viewpoint for two-year-olds. The coming revivals of them rhould attract big fields. Good two-year-olds of both sexes are coming to the races almost every day. Two additional claims were filed yesterday. M. Briener took Noble Charge from E. M. Byers for ,500, while B. G. Guth claimed Birdie-Wrack for ,500. ♦
