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FIRST MINSTRELS DEBUT Qualifies Handsomely for Withers and Belmont Stakes Gives Weight and a Beating to Peace Chance in Camp Fire Purse Sgt Byrne Tri ¬ umphs Over Chicstraw NEW YORK N Y May 21 First Min ¬ strel the handsome son of Royal Minstrel and Untidy which races for the Greentree Stable qualified handsomely for his engage ¬ ments in the mile of the Withers and the mile and a half of the Belmont when after a gruelling finish he took the measure of Joseph Wideners Peace Chance in the Camp todayIt Fire Purse at Belmont Park today It was the first racing appearance of the Greentree Stable star and the manner in which he fought it out with a seasoned colt made his performance a remarkable one Peace Chance had established a new Churchill Downs mile record of 135 and First Minstrel was giving him seven pounds in this running runningWhile While the Belmont Park program was made up of overnight races it was one of the most interesting cards of the meeting and the summerlike weather that prevailed resulted in an unusually large Monday crowd being out for the sport sportLittle Little time was lost at the post for the Camp Fire as the nine colts left the stalls and it was an excellent start Kawagoe was first to show the way and Identify was right after him Coucci had First Minstrel away in motion but this team was soon leading him by three lengths and Peace Chance was right with the son of Royal Minstrel They were both under a slight restraint as the other two raced along in front Then Identify shook off Kawagoe and drew away to a daylight lead Then the other two moved up and First Min Continued on twentysixth page FIRST MINSTRELS DEBUT DEBUTContinued Continued from first page strel was soon in second place but Wright had waited cleverly with Peace Chance and as he charged with the Widener colt he was soon alongside Coucci held First Min ¬ strel together skillfully in the run through the stretch but Peace Chance dropped his head in front Then there followed a rare duel right to the line Coucci had the in ¬ side berth with First Minstrel and the colt never faltered under his drive to have the pair sweep over the line so closely locked that the actual result was in doubt until the numbers were displayed The de ¬ cision had gone to First Minstrel and it was one of the closest finishes of the ses ¬ sion As the pair fought it out they had opened up a gap of six lengths on Good Goods from the Brookmeade Stable that had run over tired colts to be third thirdSgt Sgt Byrnej winner of the Paumonok Han ¬ dicap carried the John Simonetti silks to victory in the Friar Rock Handicap a six furlongs dash that uncovered three of the eligibles for the Withers and Belmont in George D Wideners Chicstraw C V Whit ¬ neys Roustabout and William Ziegler Jrs Bonanza Roustabout and Bonanza had ap ¬ peared before but it was the first appear ¬ ance of Chicstraw which wound up his 1933 campaign by winning the Endurance Handi ¬ cap at Bowie BowieChicstraw Chicstraw finished second but was well back of Sgt Byrne while Roustabout which finished fourth was particularly unlucky in the running and though he had a pull in the weights his race was an excellent one oneSgt Sgt Byrne always a swift sprinter set a sizzling pace from the stalls and when he raced a first quarter in 22 and the half in 45 he had opened up a lead that was to see him safely home That gave him 24 for a final quarter to have him race in 110 over the main course
