view raw text
— — — — — ——————— ; __________ ____ ; , , Tom Fool, Native Dancer Tallies Highlight Belmont Park Meet Attendance, Mutuel Play Are* Under Last Years Figures; Atkinson Heads Jockey List Interest of the all-important fans ran sky high during the recent* Belmont Park 37-day spring meeting although daily average attendance and pari-mutuel play fell slightly below last years figure. Providing the super highlights of the sterling session at the Westchester Racing Associations beauteous, spacious, mile and one-half oval at Elmont, Long Island were, of course, Greentree Stables versatile four-year-old, Tom Fool, and Alfred G. Vander-bilts equally-gifted three-year-old, Native Dancer. These two talented thoroughbreds naturally were the keynotes of the patrons attention through their respective dual appearances. A total of 905,940 fans filed through Belmonts many gates from May 6 through June 17 for a daily average of 24,485." Last years average for the corresponding meeting of 36 days duration reached 25,378 while the 34-day session in 1951 drew an average of 23,759 patrons daily. Grand totals in 1952 and 1951 were 913,620 and 807,818, respectively. Total Handle 7,059,154 Total handle for the 37 days this season was 7,059,154 against 9,468,325 for-the 36 days last spring and 3,998,464 for the 34 days which comprised the 1951 meeting. That meant a daily average mutuel play of ,082,680 this year compared to ,207,453 in 1952 and ,882,014 in 1951. Ted Atkinson, Greentrees contract rider, Beat out Eddie Arcaro and Hedley Wood-house for the Belmont jockey "crown," by a margin of eight winners. Atkinson brought home 32 victorious mounts in 173 attempts to Arcaros 24 successes in 132 tries and Woodhouses 24 in 149 chances. Atkinson and Arcaro had percentages of .18 for tops in that classification. A. Foot and C. Harr each had four winners to share top laurels among the steeplechase jockeys. Foots .36 mark was high in average. Eugene Jacobs nosed out "Sunny" Jim Fitzsimmons, W. A. Kelley and W. C. "Bill" Winfrey, trainer of Native Dancer, in the race for training honors. Jacobs led the list with nine winners to eight apiece for the latter triumvirate. Vanderbilt Leading Owner Vanderbilt emerged with the largest bankroll — 26,625 — mainly through Native Dancers triumphs in the Belmont and Withers Stakes. Tom Fools duo of victories in the Suburban and Metropolitan Handicaps netted Greentree 9,435, next highest sum amassed by an owner. Other stakes winners were Tuscany, Sea Legs, Evening Out, Secret Meeting, Tahitian King, Catspaw, Oedipus, Pintor, Squared Away, Montadet, Invigorator, Grecian Queen, Porterhouse and Marta. Sea Legs accounted for three handicaps over the jumps while Evening Out matched Native Dancers and Tom Fools tandem successes by capturing the Fashion and filly division of the National Stallion Stakes. Native Dancers "pickup" of 5,200 in the Belmont and capital award of 3,050 in the Withers gave the gray streak "the leading money-winning horse title with 05,550 to his credit. Tom Fools earnings of 6,250 was second best. The daily average net distribution to horsemen was 3,404.05, made possible by an overall staggering sum of ,758,420. Percentage of winning favorites was .35, about normal. In the 296 races conducted, 105 choices, came through, 62 second choices were successful and outsiders scored on 129 occasions. Complete Belmont Park spring statistics: Aoy 6 to June 17 — 37 Days Gross Distribution ..,758,420 Net Distribution ,605,950 Daily Average Net Distribution. 3,404.05 Attendance ,905,940 Daily Average Attendance.. 24,485 Mutuel Handle 7,059,154 Daily Average Mutuel Handle. .,082,680 Leading Money-Winning Owners . Owner. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Won. Vanderbilt A. G. 8 2 8 26,625 Greentree, Stable 7 7 5 99,435 Whitaker.Mrs.B.F. 4 0 0 57,635 Whitney, C.V. 7 3 6 47,840 Spring Hill Farm 4 2 2 35,950 BelairStud 3 11 7 35,300 Saxon Stable 2 2 1 34,800 Brady, J. C. 3 4 2 29,780 Widener, Mrs. G. D. 2 0 0 29,465 Woodvale Farm 3 6 1 34,305 H__fc-j" tessMBftfc JOCKEY TED ATKINSON — Led the Belmont riders with 32 winners.* Leading Money-Winning Horses Horse. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Won. Native Dancer 2 0 0 05,550 Tom Fool 3 0 0 76,250 Grecian Queen 2 0 0 49,725 Invigorator 1 1. 0 30,800 Evening-Out 2 0 0 29,465 Jamie K. 2 2 0 29,325 Marta - 1 1 1 24,600 Porterhouse 2 0 0 22,720 Tuscany 1 0 0 21,450 Tahitian King 10 1 21,000 Leading Jockeys Jockey. Mts. 1st 2nd. 3rd. Unp. PC. Atkinson, T. 173 32 23 16 102. 18 Arcaro, E. 132 24 27 14 67 .18 Woodhouse, H. 149 24 20 21 84 .16 Boland.W. 149 21 11 14 103 .14 Guerin,E. - 115 18 16 24 57 .16 Lester, W. 139 17 13 18 91 .12 Gorman, D. 110 14 10 14 72 .13 Green, B. 157 14 17 13 113 .09 Horeno.H. 103 14 11 10 68 .14 Scurlock.O. 100 10 10 9 71 .10 Steeplechase Jockeys Rider. Mts. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Unp. PC. Foot, A. 11 4 3 0 • 4 .36 Harr, C. 18 4 1 • 2 11 .22 Harris, R. 12 3 1 2 6 .25 Field, T. 17 2 3 3 9 .12 Schulhof er. F. 18 2 1 2 13 .11 Swithwick, P. 15 2 0 1 12 .13 Leading Trainers Trainer. Wins. Trainer. Wins. Jacobs, E. 9 Veitch, S.E. 7 Fitzsimmons, J. 8 Wliittington, R. 7 Kelley, W. A. 8 Barnett.F. 6 Winfrey, W.C. 8 Jacobs, H. 6 Coburn, J. A. "7 Martin, F. 6 Gaver, J. M. 7 The percentage of winning favorites was about normal, as shown in the subjoined tabulation: Number of races 296 Winning favorites 105 Winning second choices 62 Winning outsiders 129 Winners at odds-on 28 Defeated at odds-on 15 Percentage of winning favorites .35 Dead-heats to* win None Following is the list of stakes that were decided: Stake. Date. Winner. Value. Toboggan Handicap, May 6, Tuscany 1,450 International Steeplechase Handicap, May 7, Sea Legs 6,125 Fashion Stakes, May 8, Evening Out 10,975 Acorn Stakes, May 9, Secret Meeting 18,450 Swift Stakes, May 11, Tahitian King 18,500 Juvenile Stakes, May 13, Catspaw. . 11,750 Charles L. Appleton Memorial Steeplechase, May 14, Oediups... 6,200 Withers Stakes, May 16, Native Dancer c 23,050 National Stallion Stakes Filly Division, May 20, Evening Out. . 18,490 Corinthian Steeplechase Handicap, May 21, Sea Legs 6,100 Metropolitan Handicap, May 23, Tom Fool 25,800 Belmont National Maiden Hurdle, May 25, Pintor 5,300 Roseben Handicap, May 27, Squared Away 16,350 Belmont Spring Maiden Steeplechase, May 28, Montadet 4,800 Suburban Handicap, May 30, Tom Fool 40,400 Peter Pan Handicap, June 3, Invigorator 25,800 Meadow Brook Steeplechase Handicap, June 4, Sea Legs 7,775 Coaching Club American Oaks," June 6, Grecian Queen 45,500 National Stallion Stakes Colt Division, June 10, Porterhouse.. 20,120 Belmont Stakes, June 13, Native Dancer 85,200 Top Flight Handicap, June 17, Marta 22,350
