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Devil Diver Seeks 0,000 Suburban Stymie, Olympic Zenith, Rounders and Great Rush Only Belmont Opponents ELMONT. L. I., N. Y.. June 15.— The j Suburban Handicap will have its 59th running at Belmont Park tomorrow with the ! smallest field in its long history that dates I back to 1884 when Gen. Monroe scored in the inaugural at Sheepshead Bay. Only i five thoroughbreds, headed by Greentree Stables Devil Diver, have been entered to compete for the major portion of the 0,000 in added money. While there has never been a smaller field for this classic handi- j cap. perhaps the most important race of its | kind on the American turf, if not the most valuable, on two other occasions only five I horses went postward. Four opposed Cap- ! tain Alcock when the Quincy Stable star I • won in 1922 and the same number followed Rancocas Mokatam under the wire in 1931. Another small field of six has been entered overnight for the supporting stake, the Roseben Handicap, a six-furlong dash down the Widener straightaway that carries ,000 in added money. This test is topped by Belair Studs Apache, the seal brown stallion who has so often chased j Devil Diver in major stakes and succeeded in beating him in the Toboggan Handicap down the same chute on opening day at this meeting. Apache, oddly enough, is asked to carry the same impost of 132 pounds in the sprint that Devil Diver will attempt to pack over the extended mile and a quarter of the Suburban. Arccro to Ride Devil Divers rivals, in order of the weights, are: Mrs Ethel D. Jacobs Stymie, William Helis Rounders, 115: Circle M Ranchs Great Rush, 112, and Helis Olympic Zenith. 106. Devil Diver will probably be the mini-man in the wagering. Eddie Arcaro, who rode Hoop Jr. to victory in the Kentucky Derby last week and is Devil Divers regular pilot, will again be in the saddle on the Greentree star, having to forego the mount on the Hooper star in the Preakness to ride for his contract employer. This has been represented as a hardship on Arcaro in some quarters, but the fact is that the financial value of the two stakes is the same and Arcaro, who won his third Derby i last Saturday, earning a place beside Earl Sande and Isaac Murphy, won the "Triple Crown" on Whirlaway. has never ridden a ! Suburban winner. It will also be remembered that Devil ! Diver is the horse Arcaro "chose for the Derby of 1942. which was won by his sta-blemate, Shut Out, a circumstance which led to considerable ribbing of the veteran. Devil Divers subsequent rise to the throne as "King of the Handicappers" is, in a sense, a vindication of Arcaros judgment. Stymie appears the chief threat to Devil Diver in tomorrows mile and a quarter run. The chestnut son of Equestrian — Stop Watch is considered a natural stayer by American standards, while there has always been some doubt of Devil Divers stamina, despite his victory in last years farcical Manhattan Handicap at a mile and a half. Stymie, who will be ridden by the capable Bobby Permane, trounced Alex Barth in the mile and one-eighth Grey Lag Handicap on closing day at Jamaica. Alex Barth finished closest to Devil Diver in last Saturdays Metropolitan Mile, some four lengths back of the son of St. Germans — Dabchick.
