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NEW YORK RACING SCENE Changes Prom Jamaica to Beautiful and Palatial Belmont Park Toboggan Handicap Big Feature of Inaugu ¬ ral Program Whopper Top Weight with 130 Pounds NEW YORK N Y May 8 One of the j greatest of all American courses Belmont Park will throw open its gates Monday for the spring meeting that is by long odds the most important early session of the New York racing year It is at the Nassau County course that most of the famous old classics of the turf are annually renewed by the Westchester Racing Association and to many of the sportsmen of first importance it annually means the beginning of the new racing campaign campaignThe The big event of the opening day is the Toboggan Handicap first known as the To ¬ boggan Slide when it was decided over old Morris Park It is a dash of six furlongs through the straight of the Widener course and carries an added money value of 3000 For this renewal an even dozen have ac ¬ cepted the weights and should they all go to the post as is expected it will gross 4900 4900Of Of those named Hal Price Headley is represented by a team in Whopper top weight under 130 pounds and Preeminent which has to take up 112 pounds Another entry is named by George Odom from the Marshall Field stable in Tintagel which gave Whopper such a stern argument in the Inaugural Handicap at Hialeah Park last January and the threeyearold son of Sir Gallahad III Charing Cross that was origi ¬ nally intended for a try at the Kentucky Derby until it was decided he would do bet ¬ ter if confined to sprinting sprintingLIKES LIKES WIDENER COURSE COURSETintagel Tintagel had always shown a great liking for the Widener course where he was winner of the Futurity and he may share favoritism with Whopper while the son of Pharamond II proved a return to his best sprinting quality when he was winner of the Jamaica Handicap at the Metropolitan Jockey Club meeting meetingThe The Wheatley Stable is represented by Snark which established a world record for six and a half furlongs at Hialeah and he is another that should show to particular advantage over the straight course George D Wideners Rebellion is in exceedingly well under 102 pounds and another that will have a following is Maeriel Cycle is to race for the Howe Stable and John Simonetti will be represented by Sgt Byrne Mrs Marian Cassidy has Bill Farnsworth to bear her silks and the other two that complete the field are C V Whitneys Black Look and the Greentree Stables Chicolorado ChicoloradoFAMOUS FAMOUS ARRAY OF SPRINTERS SPRINTERSNo No more brilliant field of sprinters could be brought to the post and the best tradi ¬ tions of the famous old sprint should be well sustained Through the long list of winners since the first running in 1890 the names of many a brilliant horse may be found arid some of them well remembered by the pres ¬ ent generation is Davy Johnsons famous gelding Roseben winner of the first running at Belmont Park in 1905 Another great sprinter to win was Joseph E Wideners Naturalist in 1918 J K L Ross Billy Kelly another famous sprinting gelding was the 1919 winner and H P Whitneys Mad Hat ¬ ter which won over all distances triumphed in 1923 Osmand won for the Joseph E Widener silks in both 1928 arid 1929 and possibly the greatest horse of all the winners was C V Whitneys Equipoise which scored in 1932 In 1935 Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilts Discovery was made the choice and it is fortunate for this owner that Identify was sent out as a running mate The champion failed but Identify was winner Last year it was Singing Wood WoodJUMPERS JUMPERS OPPORTUNITY OPPORTUNITYThe The opening of the big Nassau County course will mark the beginning of jumping races for the steeplechasers on he courses of The Jockey Club The opening day jump ¬ ing contest is fashioned under selling condi ¬ tions but nine good ones have been named and steeplechasing promises to have an aus ¬ picious beginning beginningA A mile for threeyearolds promises ex ¬ ceedingly well and there are two races of a mile and a sixteenth for the selling platers Then a four and a half furlongs dash for fillies has attracted no fewer than twenty three juvenile maidens many making a first racing effort and several that are highly considered All of the overnight claiming races according to the aririouncement will he started from the Australian gate as was the case during most of the Jamaica meet ¬ ing It has also been ruled that when this gate is to be used it will be so stated when the entries are announced Each winter Joseph E Widener has made improvements and new embellishments at Belmont Park until it has become painting the lily and last winter is no exception One of the most notable additions to the great racing ground is the building of a walking ring in the paddock after the fashion of Hialeah Park in Florida There the public will have an opportunity for a closeup view of the horses before they are sent to the post There is a new judges stand for the races over the Widener course that will add to the efficiency and comfort of those offi ¬ cials With the great success that has at ¬ tended the Metropolitan Jockey Club through its season that came to a brilliant conclusion at Jamaica Saturday it is confi ¬ dently expected that at Belmont Park there will be a like success and that the best at ¬ tendance figures since the 1905 opening will be topped
