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sL :J?*%» * 1 : ... ** ■■■• .. . . .ii.. A*a*~s : i ELK RIDGE — The veteran steeplechase performer returns to competition today in the International Handicap at Belmont Park. International Steeplechase Handicap Up for Renewal at Belmont Park Today ! ; , ! ; 1 1 , ., e v a - Entry of The Heir, Drift t" ►■ Seen as Favorite in First i Jumping Stake of Meeting BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I., N. Y., j May 11. — The first steeplechase stake of the season adorns tomorrows Belmont Park ; program, when the ,500 International i Handicap at about two miles will have its fifty-second running. Mrs. Corliss Sulli- 1 vans The Heir, who finished third in this stake last year and won the Jervis Spencer at Pimlico last week, heads the International at 150 pounds. He will have a running mate in the capable Drift, who has 143 to carry. Kent Millers Elkridge, who will be making his first start of the year, is next in line at 149, and this eleven-year-old has many good races to his credit at Belmont and was voted "Steeplechaser of the Year" a couple of seasons back, but usually needs a race or two before reaching his best form. Two other of the International candidates raced against The Heir at Pimlico, while Drift raced with him for a time until he became separated from jockey R. S. McDonald when leading at the eleventh jump. Bayard Sharps Lieut. Well finished a well-beaten fifth, followed by Auburn Farms Homogenize. Lieut. Well carries 145, while Homogenize gets in with 139. The International field is completed by Mrs. Stephen C. Clark, Jr.s Trough Hill, 147, and Montpeliers Hampton Roads, 136. The entry of The Heir and Drift looms a prohibitive choice tomorrow and either of Rigan McKinneys charges could win without causing any surprise. The Heir, incidentally, ranked third in Daily Racing Forms annual poll of the best steeplechasers of 1948, behind American Way and Elkridge, while Trough Hill also received a few votes. Drift, who is a comparative youngster at five, won two stakes and placed in another last year, while The Heir won four fixtures and was in the money in six others. Elkridge won three stakes and finished I in the money in five others last year, but : was unable to hit his winning stride until I July, after finishing third to Fleettown and I The Heir in the Corinthian at the Bel-, ■ mont spring meeting. Trough Hill won i three stakes and was second or third in the same number, beating Elkridge and I American Way in the Brook Steeplechase i here in September. Homogenize, another r five-year-old, won the Governor Ogle at t Laurel Park last fall. Lieut. Well won last t years Jervis Spencer. The best of tomorrows flat races is the ; Slide Rule Purse, a six-furlong dash on the i main course that has attracted 10 three- year-olds of no great distinction. Six of f the field have been nominated for stakes at t this meeting in which they are not very f likely to appear. Walter Chryslers Sub and 3 Isabella T. Gilpins Near East were named for todays Acorn and the Coaching Club a American Oaks. A. G. Vanderbilts Discon- - solate, Lester Manor Stables Fire Again i and Mrs. Aksel Wichfelds Daiquari are e Belmont Stakes eligibles, while Gustave e Rings Narviko is eligible to the Withers. I Lestor Manor Stables Blue Row, who will II t" ►■ i j ; i 1 be coupled with Fire Again, has the best recent form, having run away with a sprint at Jamaica on May 4 in which she beat such as Valse Bleue and Loraine. She is the lightweight of this field at 104 pounds including Michael Danisi. The others in the dash are Dimitri Djord-j adzes Silver Bridge, a French gelding who is making his local debut; Mrs. C. O. Iselins Cavendish and George D. Wideners Rose-borough.
