view raw text
ONLY SEVENTEEN WITHDRAWN Fifty-Four Remain Eligible for Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont. Discovery, Mr. Khayyam, Ladysman, War Glory and Other Stars Among Prospective Contestants Value Raised. NEW YORK, N. Y., April 3. The growth in popularity of all-aged racing in New York within a year is indicated by the small num- ber of eligibles which have been struck from the Metropolitan Handicap, to be run at Belmont Park the first week of its spring and summer meeting. Only seventeen of its seventy-one nominations, as of March 1 of this year, have paid forfeit and been declared out of the 1935 renewal. Among the. horses that remain eligible are practically all the leading three-year-olds and over of a year ago with, as new blood, nearly all the young horses wHich gave promise of stake quality in 1934. - Among the seasoned eligibles for this years running are Faireno, now six years old, Mr. Khayyam, Ladysman, War Glory and Okapi, which are five, and Discovery, King Saxon, Observant, Sgt. Byrne, Singing Wood, Coequel, Somebody and High Quest which are four. The list of three-year-olds shows virtually all the horses which distinguished themselves last season as juveniles, together with a number of other colts and. fillies of their age less widely known. The race will be worth about twice what it was a year ago. It will gross about ,000 of which ,000 will go to the second horse and 00 to the third. In the weights which were announced last February, Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilts Discovery is top with 127, High Quest next with 126 and Ladysman third with 120. From Ladysmans impost, the weights drop below 120, and to below 115 for all three-year-olds. The Starmount Stables Ten Law carries only 90 pounds, the lightest , of six horses of his age which will carry less than 100. The raising of the added money from ,500 to ,000 this year so that the gross of the race will be ,000 or more, is in line with the policy adopted by all New York racing associations during the winter of increasing handicap values and encouraging racing of older horses. The result, in the books of all handicaps, has more than justified the expectations of the associations. The Westchester Racing Association which released the names, of the eligibles for the Metropolitan yesterday announces that the books of all its handicaps for 1935 are fuller than at any time since 1928. In the field of all-aged racing, the Metropolitan, which is always run early at Belmont Parks spring meeting, has for years been the gauge by which three-year-olds of the preceding year displayed whether or not they had the qualities which enable a horse to "train on" into the sort of champion which is fit to meet all comers picking up weight as he goes. Equipoise won it in 1932 with 127 pounds and again the following year with 128. He was disqualified last year for bearing over to the rail, but was actually the first horse to finish and with 132 pounds on his back. In 1930 Jack High set a mark of 1:35 in the Metropolitan, which still stands as the record for the race and stood as the worlds record for a mile until Equipoise lowered it The Metropolitan is also memorable for its running on the day of the opening of Belmont Park in 1905, when James R. Keenes famous Sysonby and O. L. Richards Race King were tied in a dead heat. First run at Morris Park in 1891, the race has always attracted packed grandstands and the highest class horses of its year. Among its victors have been Tristan, Ram-apo, Glorifier, King James, Whisk Broom DT. Mad Hatter, Petee-Wrack, Gray Lag, Sara-zen and Questionnaire. Originally it was run at a mile and a furlong, but in 1897 was reduced to a mile, at which distance it has been run ever since. Most of the horses eligible to run in it this year have been nominated also for the Suburban, the Brooklyn and the Butler Handicaps, all to be run in the New York city district and each carrying an added money value of 0,000. The total value of each of them will be somewhere in the region of 0,000 and in the aggregate they will come to a gross worth the consideration of any horse owner. As a horse wins or fails to show in one of them, he will accumulate weight or be relieved of it. This, with the quality of fields which have been attracted, will assure the sort of sport which spells great racing. Following are the horses still eligible for the Metropolitan: Discovery, 127; High Quest, .126; Ladysman, 120; Mr. Khayyam, 118; Good Advice, 115; Singing Wood, 114; Faireno, 114; Observant, 113; War Glory, 113; Balladier, 112; Psychic Bid, 110; Plat Eye, 110; King Saxon, 110; Bazaar, 109; Kievex, 109; Okapi, 109; Roustabout, 109; Today,108; Dark Hope, 108; Gay Monarch, 108; Lord Admiral, 106; Sound Advice, 105; Only One, 105; Gallant Mac, 104; Polar Flight, 104; Ariel Cross, 103; Nautch, 103; Somebody, 102; Our Reigh, 102; Pitter Pat, 102. Dogmata, 102; St. Bernard, 102; Vermouth, 102; Esposa, 100; Gold Buckle, 100; Coequel, 100; Dasher, 100; Pompeys Pillar, 100; Royal Guard, 100: Mister Gander, 98; Sgt. Byrne, 108; Thursday, 108; Omaha, 107; Boxthorn, 106; Good Flavor, 106; Sailor Be- ware, 106; Identify, 106; Conte, 96; Finance, 96; Qov, Sholtz, 96; Shot Proof, 96; Laughing Sun, 93; Silversmith, 93; Ten Law, 90.
