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NEW YORK SEASON BEGINS ♦ Pilate Surprises by Winning Renewal of Paumonok Handicap. e Adverse Conditions Prevail at Jamaica for Inaugural, but Exceptionally Large Crowd Attends. ♦ NEW YORK, N. Y., May 6.— Pilate, the son of Friar Rock and Herodias, which races for Andy Schuttinger, added his name to the roster of Paumonok winners Saturday when he took the big feature of the opening of the turf season in New York. Showing marked improvement over his Maryland form, he led home Okapi, from the Brookmeade Stable, with George H. Bostwicks Pompeius winner of the Harford Handicap, a poor third. Only six started and Quel Jeu was fourth, with Curacao fifth and Sun Mission last. Conditions could hardly have been less auspicious for the opening of the season and with weather more like January than May, the Jamaica course of the Metropolitan Jockey Club attracted a surprisingly large crowd. During the early afternoon there was a cold drizzle falling, while all afternoon, after the rain had ceased, the temperature was unseasonably low. The crowd remain faithful and there was no lack of interest in the sport, though several of the races had been pruned down to small fields by reason of scratches. The going was muddy, but there was a firm bottom to the track and good time was made in each of the events. Every preparation had been made for a big opening, and it surely would have been a big opening had it not been for the weather handicap. The cut in the price of admission to .75, including the tax, as well as the reduction in the train fare, appeared to be greatly appreciated by the patrons and it is safe to promise that with favorable weather conditions, the season will be a thoroughly successful one. The result of the Paumonok, which was having its twenty-fourth renewal, was something of a surprise in the failure of Pompeius to be better than third. The son of Pompey had soundly beaten Pilate in the Harford Handicap and the difference in weight at this meeting could hardly account for the difference in the result. There was some excuse for the Bostwick colt when he was kept next to the inner rail, where the worst of the footing had to be accepted, and Fator was picking the best footing for Schuttingers sprinter. ♦
