view raw text
LEVEL BEST Level Best Victress in Coaching Club Oaks Roseben Handicap Taken by Harvard Square Oglebay Filly Defeats Dark Discovery King Cole Second in Roseben RosebenNEW NEW YORK N Y May 31 Nearly 30000 racegoers acclaimed Level Best the queen of the turf as she responded valiantly to jockey Alfred Robertsons final furlong call and defeated John Bells Dark Discovery by a neck in a thrilling drive that ended the twentyfifth running of the Coaching Club American Oaks headliner on a sunny Satur ¬ days doublestake program at Belmont Park The only other starter in the Oaks which is this countrys filly Derby was Breckin ridge Longs Nasca in finishing last to Cris ¬ pin Oglebays representative was beaten less than three lengths for the major award of 10275 in one of the swiftest of all re ¬ newals of the stake stakeThe The Oaks rather unexpectedly for those who made Level Best a topheavy favorite brought a closer finish than did its com ¬ panion feature the second running of the Roseben Handicap In this test of six fur ¬ longs W Arnold Hangers Harvard Square wore down Ogden Phipps favored King Cole to beat him out three parts of a length in 111 with seven pounds the better of the weights W H LaBoyteauxs lightly regard ¬ ed Springvvood was third a length and a half back The Roseben was worth 5300 to the winner and Harvard Square paid 750LEADS 750 LEADS FROM END TO END ENDLevel Level Best returned only 290 after lead ¬ ing from end to end in the mile and three furlongs of the Coaching Club moving over the distance in 217 the third fastest time in the history of the stake As might be expected what with all this display of speed the track continued in fast condition Though Level Bests winning margin was a harrow one she was distinctl the best for her main challenger Dark Discovery was tiring yardsOnce and bearing out the last seventy yards Once again favored by the best of spring weather the Westchester Racing Associ ¬ ation was host to a crowd that counted 28236 at the turnstiles and was well above the 22059 present the same afternoon last year yearMillion Million dollar days are becoming a week ¬ end habit and the big crowd sent 1400535 through the machines This meant equal shares of the 14005350 for both the associ ¬ ation and the state stateIn In attendance were most of the notable notableContinued Continued on nineteenth page LEVEL BEST VICTRESS IN OAKS AT BELMONT BELMONTOglebay Oglebay Filly Neck to Good Over Dark Discovery Harvard Square Whips King Cole in Roseben Cap CapContinued Continued iron first page pagepersonalities personalities who regularly attend Belmoht Parks stakesstudded spring meetings Fol ¬ lowing the Oaks owner Crispin Oglebay of Gates Mills Ohio led inlhe fleet and game Level Best and received the winners trophy from Reginald Reeves head of the Coaching Club of America After the Roseben Alfred Vanderbilt president of Belmont Park pre ¬ sented W Arnold Hanger owner of the successful Harvard Square SquareLevel Level Best turned in a fast and game per ¬ formance to add her name to Ihe honor roll of Coaching Club American Oaks heroines The three were in the gate only a moment when George Cassidy pressed the buttpn and they left on the same stride strideROBERTSON ROBERTSON ON OGLEBAY MISS MISSRobertson Robertson on the topheavy favorite went to the front by about a length and a half with double wraps on his filly While Nasca and Dark Discovery raced side by side be ¬ hind her and likewise were under a steady pull Thats the way they went the first quarter in only 25 and th s half in 49 Then Level Best began to steal off from the other two with no apparent effort and without Robby changing his hold holdAt At the six furlongs in 113 she was six in front with her mouth wide open while Nasca had moved a length before Dark Dis ¬ covery They went that way to nearing the quarter pole and there Bierman on Dark Discovery and James on Nasca bent their mounts to the task confronting them themDark Dark Discovery was outside Nasca and at the furlong pole had closed to within two lengths of Level Best causing Robertson to draw his whip and go to a drive though he struck the mare just once She gave all she had and it was well she did for inside the last sixteenth the Oglebay filly was tiring and Dark Discovery still gained In the final yards Dark Discovery began to show the effects of the effort too and was bearing out Digging in gamely as is her wont Level Best outlasted her to win by a long neck Nasca outrun by the other two in the last quarter duel was two lengths farther away and finished third and last lastFAST FAST RUN RACE RACEIt It was a fast race after the first six furlongs with the mile in 138 the mUe and a quarter in 20345 and the distance in 217 time that has only twice before been bettered in the stake when War Plumage ran it in 216 and Flambette in 217 217The The winner paid just 290 with 67026 wagered on her to win and the total pool was 108246 108246Harvard Harvard Square who had won his last previous essay in an allowance race at Ja ¬ maica was a keen horse in the Roseben He was one of the first to catch his stride in a good start which found Roman and King Cole moving away together in the lead leadBierman Bierman took a tight hold on his mount and snugged him along outside that pair as they went at one another hammer and tongs down the far side and into the turn At about the quarter mile mark Roman was through and dropped back leaving Kinjj Cole in the van However at this juncture Bierman asked Harvard Square for his best speed and moved to King Cole on the out ¬ side of the Phipps colt entering the front path They staged a nipandtuck duel to the finish with King Cole still leading by half a length or so at the eighth post but hang ¬ ing through the final strides and Harvard Square forged ahead to win by the best part of a length lengthSpringwood Springwood was forwardly placed all the way and was racing inside the winner on the turn which made Harvard Square pur ¬ sue a wide course at a loss of a couple of lengths entering the stretch However he could not get to either of the first two under punishment and had to content himself with third place
