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Eight Eight in in Peabody Peabody Memorial; Memorial; Suburban Suburban Draws Draws Battlefield Battlefield Among Ten Named For Belmont Stake Widener Colt Takes Up 124, Giving Weight to Mameluke, Alerted in 0,000 Fixture By BOB HORWOOD Staff Correspondent BELMONT PARK, Elmont, L. I... N. Y., May 29. The 0,000 Suburban Handicap, traditional Memorial "Day feature at Belmont Park, will have its sixty-sixth running tomorrow. Ten of the nations leading thoroughbreds will meet in this mile and a quarter event which has for many years been one of the major handicaps on the American turf. Though the defection of the reigning champion, Spartan Valor, who is literally, but not financially, down at the heels, takes some of the lustre from this edition of the fixture, it promises to be one of the most engrossing races of the entire year. George D. Wideners Battlefield, who is topweight with 124 pounds, Hampton Stables Alerted, who gets in with H3, and C. V. Whitneys Mameluke, 116, loom the chief contenders in this -Suburban, which will gross 0,000 if all 10 go postward, with a net value to the winner of 1,900, plus a silver cup. Twice Beaten Half Length Battlefield was beaten a half length in each of his two starts this year, succumbing to the upstart First Glance in a swift six furlongs, then being passed by the sensational stretch run of Mameluke in the Metropolitan Mile. Mamelukefollowed that triumph by running fourth behind Alerted in the Healey Memorial Handicap at Garden State Park. Alerted had won the Dixie Handicap in his previous appearance under colors and finished second to Spartan Continued on Page Thirty-Nine Battlefield Heads . Suburban Line-Up Carries 124, Giving Weight To Mameluke, Alerted and j Six Other Belmont Rivals 1 Continued from Page One Valor in the Gallant Fox at Jamaica before ! that. ; The slow starting Mameluke is reported to have been at a disadvantage at Garden State because of the comparatively short stretch at the New Jersey track. He can ; have no excuse on that score tomorrow and will be favored by the added distance. Incidentally, Mameluke appeared decidedly sore following his first eastern start here at Belmont, but Dave Gorman, who rode , him that day, explains that the Mahmoud colt had a nose and throat full .of sand and dirt and gave the impression that he was "nodding" when he was only coughing out the foreign matter that was choking him. Battlefield and Alerted staged some of the most exciting stretch duels of the 1951 New York season, with Battlefield beating his lightly weighted rival in photo finishes in the Shevlin and Dwyer at Aqueduct, then finishing second to Alerted in the Discovery Handicap at that track. Alerted demonstrated that he can handle the Belmont strip by winning the Jerome Handicap here from a field that included Hall of Fame and Counterpoint. Ray DeStefano, who has done a remarkable job of keeping Alerted fresh and fit after a campaign of 31 starts at three and 13 more races this year starting at Hialeah, says that the Bull Lea colt turns in his best races when he has had one hard race approximately a week before. Eddie Arcaro will ride Battlefield tomorrow, while Gerald Porch wjll be on Maine-1 luke and Rocco Sisto will guide Alerted. The others" in the Suburban field, and j they rate attention, are Charfran Stables Crafty Admiral, 113; Greentree Stables One Hitter, 112; Walter M. Jeffords Kiss Me Kate, 107; Ogden Phipps Busanda, 106; Jack Amiels Count Turf, 105; King Ranchs High Dive, 103, and Mrs. John P. Rutherfurds Donor, 102. Crafty Admiral, who was second choice to Battleship in the Metropolitan, stopped badly in that mile race, but may have been feeling the effect of a brief illness. The Fighting Fox colt came back to finish a good second to Alerted in the Healey Memorial last week. No rider has been named for the colt, who will probably set the pace tomorrow. Crafty Admiral showed that he can lead throughout a mile and a quarter when winning the Gulfstream Handicap in 2:01 from Alerted. They were at level weights in that event, as they are tomorrow. One Hitter in Close Quarters One Hitter was in close quarters for a good part of the Metropolitan than closed "willingly to finish third once he got clear. The little son of Shut Out cant handle himself in jams and always needs a bit of racing luck, but has undeniable class and showed his fitness by speeding a mile in 1:37 and some change through a rainstorm on Sunday morning. One Hitter runs his best races about six days after such a drill, as he showed last year at Saratoga. Kiss Me Kate was voted the sophomore filly champion last year, but has been out only once this season, finishing third behind Next Move and Thelma Berger in the Firenze Handicap at Jamaica. Busanda was the surprise winner of last years Suburban, under 102 pounds. She picks up four more, but doesnt appear to have improved. -Donor is a former star of the handicap division who is finding the comeback trail-exceedingly rough and rocky, but showed improvement in his last start here on Tuesday, when he finished second to Combat Boots and almost a length before High Dive at a, mile and a furlong. Count Turf won last years Kentucky Derby, but since then -has. been able to win only one sprint at Belmont Park and an allowance event at Santa Anita. Since the Suburban was inaugurated at Elmeels Gen. Monroe was the winner un-Sheepshead Bay in 1884, when E. J. Mc-der the same burden of 124 pounds that Battlefield is asked to carry tomorrow, it has compiled a bead roll of turf immortals. Among the never-to-be-forgotten winners at the old track were Salvator, Henry of Navarre, Ben Brush, Imp, Herrriis, Beldame and Fitz Herbert. Whisk Broom II. won the first running at Belmont Park in 1913, carrying the record weight of 139 pounds in an official record time of 2:00. Since then, the Suburban has fallen to such stars as Johren, Greylag, Equipoise, Eight Thirty, Market Wise, Devil Diver, Armed and Assault. Only 18 of the 65 winners carried 124 pounds or more, which, in itself, is a fact that should make Battle-fields odds more liberal than they will probably be made by the throng of 50,000 or more expected to attend tomorrow.
