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TEST FOR WAR ADMIRAL Carrying 132 Pounds in 0,000 Suburban Handicap Today. Riddle Star in Severest Test of His Spectacular Career — Pompoon the Horse to Beat. NEW YORK, N. Y., May 27.— The Suburban Handicap oldest of the spring handicaps , . in the Metropolitan area and second of "the big three" in early season stakes of this order, gives promise of providing turf enthusiasts with one of the greatest contests of the year down at Belmont Park today. War Admiral, entered in the mile and a quarter stake when the special with Sea-biscuit was cancelled, is slated for one of the toughest races of his career when he goes j j forth to measure strides with such fleet and | ! top class horses as Pompoon, Aneroid, and i | Snark, conceding weight to every one of the ! ; three and considerably more to the five re- j maining hopefuls. j Overnight the four appear to stand out i over the balance of the entrants, with the | champion from the Glen Riddle outfit shap- j , ing up as a six to five chance. The Belmont j i track was surfaced by light mud yesterday but it is a fast drying track and a warm | j sun today would mean good footing for the fifty-first renewal of the 0,000 added fea- | ture, a stake inaugurated way back in 1884 When it was taken by Gen. Monroe. QUESTIONABLE RECORD. Some powerful horses have won it since that day, including Whisk Broom II., which raced over the ten furlongs in the questionable time of 2:00, a mark which has been equalled in England, but never on this side of the Atlantic. War Admiral may not be a Whisk Broom II., but hell carry the hopes and the dollars of the majority of the vast crowd anticipated for the week-end at the Westchester Association grounds, providing Continued on thirty-fourth page. TEST FOR WAR ADMIRAL Continued from first page. the weather is fair. Man o War, the daddy of todays favorite never tried for a Suburban, but the race was taken in later years by one of his sons, Crusader, and one of his daughters, Bateau. The colt has been rated by many good judges as the best horse ever sent to the races by the super horse, though they are not as firm in such declaration as they were prior to the coming of War Admiral. Crusader was good enough to beat older opposi-, tion in the stake as a three-year-old and then pack 127 to victory the following season to make it a double. He is the only horse in the history of the event to accomplish such a feat. GREAT THREE-YEAR-OLD RECORD. War Admiral, unbeaten in eight starts as a three-year-old in 1937, a cluster which included "The Triple Crown" as the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont are designated on these shores, has been training to perfection during recent weeks and trials indicate he is ready for the race of j his life. He has started a couple of times | this year, winning twice, when facing in-i different opposition at Hialeah Park. Todays race promises to be much tougher. George Conway sent the Riddle star j through his final extended trial on Thurs- ; day and he was moving along at a brisk pace when he went a mile in 1:38% and I eased up a mile and a furlong in 1:54. Full j of run all through the trial, he ran a quarter in :22%, the half in :47 and three-quarters in 1:24%. Then he put in his final quarter in :24 flat. Other trials have been first rate, and despite his top impost of 132 he must be the choice of the public. POMPOON DANGEROUS. Pompoon, juvenile champion of 1936 and a colt which gave War Admiral his toughest race as a three-year-old, looks all over the one to beat. The son of Pompey was beaten by a scant head in the Preakness last year when War Admiral was first to catch the judges eyes. Hes . going to have a four-pound weight pull this afternoon and, that coupled with his record-breaking effort in the Dixie means hell be no easy horse to down. Aneroid, the five-year-old who ran off with honors in the 1937 Suburban, is fancied highly by work-watchers, following his recent keen mile and a furlong trial. He traveled that distance in 1:52%, the half in :47%, three-quarters in 1:13. and the mile in 1:39. He didnt trouble Pompoon in the Dixie, but this is a different track and theres a ten-pound weight shift in his favor. That indicates he should be a fighting factor for every step of the journey. Snark, winner of the 1937 Metropolitan, and third in that stake this season, is not a good mile and a quarter horse. A mile appears his best game. However, if the track | is sloppy or muddy, he should take considerable catching. He had no excuse in the i Dixie at a mile and three-sixteenths, simply quitting. His best move for the race was a mile and an eighth in 1:50%, first mile in 1:37%. That says he holds all his foot.
