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NINE NAMED FOR WITHERS AT BELMONT _ PARK ■ — ie — MENOW PUBLIC CHOICE One Mile Route Favors Hal Price Headleys Star Colt. Sun Alexandria Is Strong Candidate for Winning Honors — Whitney s Dominate Appleton Memorial. NEW YORK, N. Y., May 20.— The Withers, at one time considered the principal spring test for the richer and more coveted Belmont Stakes, will be the major attraction on todays double stake program at the Westchester Racing Association course. Nine have been nominated for this mile affair, with Hal Price Headleys Menow appearing a standout and a red hot public choice. The Charles Appleton Memorial, a brush contest, will be the secondary attraction and this appears a more open contest, though it may be dominated by the Whitney family, Greentree having Sailor Beware and Jungle King entered, with Red Rain slated to bear the banner of Gwladys Whitney. The three-year-old stake is a far richer race than the steeplechase, as it will be worth 5,000 net to the winner, if all named overnight go to the post. The successful horse in the Appleton will gather ,625 in prize money, providing none of the seven entered are withdrawn. A light rain fell today, but the track should be in excellent condition if the sun comes out Saturday. Given favorable conditions, it is anticipated the largest crowd of the young Metropolitan season will be present at Belmont Park this afternoon. PLENTY EARLY SPEED. Menow moved into favoritism for the Withers through his good efforts in the Kentucky Derby and Preakenss. In both he showed the way to his opposition for a mile, this being the distance of todays feature. Hal Price Headley, like the majority of folks, is convinced that this distance is as far as the son of Pharamond II. and Alcibaides cares to travel. He can run very fast at eight furlongs and it is mighty doubtful if any of the others can catch him in the last furlong. There hasnt been a Kentucky triumph in the Withers since Blue Larkspur scored for E. R. Bradley back in 1929. Todays renewal should bring another, for Menow looks distinctly the best of the nine hopefuls. Sun Alexandria, representative of Willis Sharpe Kilmer, was capable enough to win the mile Spalding Lowe Jenkins Handicap at Laurel last fall and on that showing looms forth as a husky contender. Redbreast is another which would be mighty formidable on best juvenile races, though his four 1938 efforts were nothing to talk about. He dropped out of the clouds to win the Babylon Handicap at Aqueduct early in the fall and then was a well-beaten third in the Junior Champion, though closing stoutly. Todays stake marks his most important chance of the year. MUCH IMPROVED. Thanksgiving also would be dangerous on his best two-year-old races but he did not do much running in the Chesapeake. Hes Continued on thirty-fourth page. NINE NAMED FOR WITHERS STAKES AT BELMONT PARK Continued from first page. been going steadily since that occasion, with Max Hirsch freshening him up for todays opportunity. Still, in the writers opinion, hell have to race better than ever I before to catch Menow. Red Pepper, a son of Pompey and Oroya, | in the stable of Alfred Vanderbilt, won three ; out of four starts in Maryland this spring but his opposition was only moderate. Then, j i too, these were six furlongs dashes and his I ! I value at a mile is doubtful. I Magic Hour, highly rated by his connec- , I tions, did not impress one as a Withers for- j j midable in his recent three-quarters effort i at Belmont Park. Cattistock, also a winner I at the meeting, appears a better sprinter j I than a miler, though hes stoutly-bred. Bat- | i I tie Jack has won two out of three this spring I but he was beaten by a moderate horse at | Suffolk Downs last Saturday. Dah He is j I scheduled to accompany Menow to the post, shaping up as a considerably weaker prospect than his stablemate. The Appleton Memorial, a two-mile brush affair, should prove a stirring race, as five of the seven entrants are very close on their top form. Rioter, a stake winner during the last two seasons for Thomas Hitchcock, is the most capable of the group when right. However, he fell in his only start of the season and suffered a similar mishap in his 1937 final. In his last he was an odds-on chance and his lack of jumping skill on that occasion has weakened public confidence in the Reflector gelding. Mrs. Payne Whitneys Jungle King, a five-time stake winner last season, must pack top weight of 160, thereby making considerable concessions to all rivals. Therefore it is impossible to enthuse over his chances. Sailor Beware, which accounted for the Grand National at Belmont Park last fall, appears a better prospect under 153 pounds He has plenty of speed on the flat and has yet to I make a bobble in his jumping. Red Rain, winner of the Hopeful Stakes as a two-year-old, won his first stait of the season when he traveled successfully ! through the Belmont field last week. That was a well-run race and indicates the Pennant five-year-old finally has learned his jumping lessons. Consequently hes no weak candidate for the Appleton honors. Fils De Liral and Good Chance, the two remaining entrants, appear outmatched. Jack Campbell has built up an excellent card around the two stakes. At any other ! track the mile Commando Handicap would ! be a stake, as it has attracted a smashing field of eight,
