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p - - %, ,,,,,, „,„,,,„ ,, ,k f ■ - JOCKEY EDDIE ARCARO — Will ride Battlefield todpy as he strives for his fifth saddle success in the 00,000 Belmont Stakes renewal. Count Count Turf Turf Belmont Belmont Favorite; Favorite; Seven Seven Seek Seek Lincoln Lincoln Handicap Handicap Derby Winner Faces Eight Colts and One Filly Today Coveted Mile and One-Half Fixture Gives Battlefield, How, Counterpoint, Mameluke and Battle Morn Good Opportunity To Solidify Championship Claims Oyer Amiel Colorbearer By BOB HOBWOOD Staff Correspondent N BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. L, N. Y., June 15.— Jack Amiels Kentucky Derby winner. Count Turf, heads a field of 10 three-year-olds entered this morning for tomorrows eighty-third running of the classic Belmont Stakes, at one and one-half miles. The son of Count Fleet, who will again be ridden by Conn McCreary, looks a solid favorite in the fixture, which will gross 19,100 and net 3,000 to the winner if all 10- start. In the order* of their probable favoritism, Count Turf will b€ opposed by George D. Wideners Battlefield, Herman Delmans How. C. V. Whitneys Counterpoint and Mameluke, Cain Hoy Stables Battle Morn, Sam E. Wilson Jr.s Royal Mustang, King Ranchs Sonic, Phantom ►Farms Nullify and Brookmeade Stable; Steadfast. All will carry 126 pounds, excep the filly, How, who gets in with 121. How Uncertain Starter This years Belmont shapes up as one of the most open runnings of the third tier ir the "Triple Crown" since it was inaugurated at Jerome Park back in 1867, wher F. Morris* filly, Ruthless, beat DeCourcej and Rivoli, earning a paltry ,805 for her three minutes and five seconds of work the time it required to negotiate the mile and five furlongs at which the Belmont was then run. This years sophomores have been beating each other regularly since the early winter with How being the only one of tomorrows field able to. win two major stakes. The daughter of Prince-quillo captured the Kentucky and Coaching Club American Oaks and is also the only one of the Belmont field to have gone more than a mile and a quarter in public However, she is not a certain starter though Jennie Green has been named t ride. Confirmed Derby Score Count Turfs only stake victory of the year was his brilliant and unexpected triumph in the Kentucky Derby at a mile and a quarter, a race which he confirmed with a brilliant stretch run in the Polynesian Purse here at a mile and a sixteenth. Steadfast also won a stake at a mile and a quarter, the Jersey Handicap at GardeD State Park, in which he carried only lie pounds. None of the others have won at distances longer than a mile and a furlong, the route at which Counterpoint smashed Continued on Page Three Count Turf Faces Nine Rivals Today At Mile and One-Half of Belmont Stakes Favored Over Battlefield, * How and Whitney Entry of Counterpoint, Mameluke a track mark in beating Battlefield in last Saturdays Peter Pan Handicap. Sonic won the Experimental at a mile and a sixteenth and was disqualified in favor of Ruhe after being first under the wire in a division of the Blue Grass Stakes at a mile and a furlong. Mameluke, a doubtful starter according to owner Whitney, won the first division of the Blue Grass at a mile and a furlong, while Battlefield took the Withers Mile. Battle Morn won an overnight race at Hialeah at nine furlongs, while Nullify took one at Jamaica at a mile and a sixteenth. Royal Mustang has not won except at sprint distances, but finished in the money in a division of the Everglades and Blue Grass at a mile and an eighth, and was second in the Derby and Peabody Memorial. Won Peter Pan While only Count Turf, How and possibly Steadfast come to the Belmont with valid credentials as stayers, several of their rivals have indicated in shorter races that they may well be able to get a mile and one-half in elite company. Counterpoint won the Peter Pan with speed in reserve after being close to a sizzling pace all the way, and a duplication of that race would make him very dangerous tomorrow, despite the fact that he must pick up 14 pounds additional. The Mahmoud colt has been decidedly erratic thus far in his career, however. After being clocked in the Blue Grass, in which he ran a powerful race. Counterpoint turned in a dull effort in the Derby, then came back to be second in the Preakness behind Bold. He followed this race by a bad one behind Battlefied in the Withers, then turned in the best race of his career last week in the Peter Pan. His stablemate, Mameluke, is expected to start only in the event of a sloppy track, on which he moves up many pounds. Though bred to be a sprinter, being by Easy Mom from a Royal Minstrel mare, Royal Mustang has finished stoutly in distance races, notably in the Derby and more recently the Peabody Memorial. Nullify also has finished many of his races well, though not well enough,, while Battle Morn has occasionally closed with a great rush, though often spoiling it by going wide. Battlefields stamina, or lack of it, has been a fertile source of argument for many i months, and remains to be proven, one way or the other. The inbred son of Waf Relic — Dark Display, by Display, is not likely to step on his pedigree in the final furlong tomorow, but the fact remains that he has not won beyond a mile. In the Peter Pan, Battlefield was trying to concede nine pounds to Counterpoint, and was able to gain les than a length in the stretch, which caused some of his detractors to write him off as a non-stayer.. This writer gained the impression that Battlefield was not unduly abused in the Peter Pan and appeared a trifle short. The colt had been, on the Er-denheim Farm in Pennsylvania for some 10 days before that race and may have taken things a little too easy to be ready to give weight, and a beating to a colt capable of a track-record performance. Seen in Good Trials Most of the Belmont candidates have trained impressively in recent days. Count "Turf demonstrated that he had completely recovered from a brief spell of "hot feet," when he stepped a clever six furlongs at Jamaica yesterday, while Battlefield appeared in splendid form as he breezed the same distance over th,e deep training track here at Belmont. Sonic, Royal Mustang and Nullify have all turned in good route trials in the last few days, while Steadfast showed speed in a clever seven furlongs. Sonic "blew out" this morning, going a handy half in :48 on the main track here, under light restraint. Counterpoint stepped three-quarters in 1:14 in the slop, also going very handily, while Mameluke went seven furlongs in 1:28 between races yesterday. How has not been seen by the dockers since her Coaching Club Oaks victory, but that is not surprising. Owner Delman has been providing the work-watchers with edibile cheesecake recently, but has not permitted them a glimpse of his crack filly. No riders were assigned officially to Royal Mustang or Battle Morn. Earlier in the week, it was announced that Eric Guerin would be on the former, while Ted Atkinson would ride Battle Morn. Trainer Willie Booth announced later in the day that Ovie Scurlock had been engaged to ride Royal Mustang. Eddie Arcaro will be in quest of his fifth Belmont Stakes victory on Battlefield, having won the stakes with Whirlaway, Shut Out, Pavot and Citation. Incidentally, "Heady Eddie" literally stole the Belmont on a non-stayer, when he scored with Pavot, who won by six lengths "driving," appearing on the verge of collapse while far in front. Bill Boland will be trying to duplicate his victory of last year on Middleground with Sonic, who could cause a surprise on his best form. Conn McCreary, who fits Count Turf so well that he seems transformed with the "mighty mite" in the sadle, will be after his first Belmont Stakes victory. The same is true of master Green, who will ride How; Dave Gorman, who will be on Counterpoint; Ray Adair, who is Mamelukes rider, and Hedley Woodhouse, who will pilot Steadfast. Should Count Turf or Battlefield win tomorrows Belmont, they will probably be hailed as the champions pro tern of the division, while should How emulate Ruthless and Tanyr, the only fillies who have won the stake in 82 runnings, she will join the immortals of the turf. A victory by any of the otherrwould obviously enhance their standing, but hardly be accepted as conclusive. Fair weather is-in prospect for tomorrow, which should insure a throng of some 50, 000 for the longest and most significant of the years three-year-old stakes.
