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Aqueduct ■ : By Chuck Connors Aqueduct Once Called Straw Hat Meet Carter and Brooklyn Main Offerings Riverina Suffers Cracked Sesamoid AQUEDUCT, L. I„ N. Y., June 13.— This meeting was called the straw hat meeting back a few years ago. The reason, the boys blossomed forth in that type of v_ — a — i i: ; j_ neuugeui as a, piuiecwun aguuibu the sun. The lawn facing the grandstand was the gathering place of the men who were convinced that their opinion on matters relative to any given race was better than the other fellows. The afternoons were long, the footing was hot, the crowds dense and excitement ran high. Today the vstraw skimmer is no longer in demand as it was then. It could be the changing fashion or the weather. The varieties of climate prevailing in the past few weeks set some kind of records, cool, cold, windy, rain and summerlike were on tap and some of the boys were of the opinion that summer had been detoured en route. However, the different varieties were taken in stride by the boys and girls and everything turned out okay. Belmont Park has in recent years been the guinea pig, weatherwise, but a breakdown of the figures proved that the big Nassau County course proved successful from all angles. The gate was bigger than last year as was also the tote calculations. m Belmonts overnight programs showed mediocrity on several occasions but this can be ascribed to coughing, illness and other ailments. The two-year-olds were the hardest hit, the coughing sidelined" goodly number of the youngsters. The stake program was, as to be expected, excellent and the Suburban, Metropolitan and other tradition-steeped events lived up to expectations. Nashua continued his sweeping dominance of the three-year-olds in this area but the accolade for the juveniles must be held in abeyance until later. Helioscope and High Gun dominated the older division. Aqueduct has some interesting numbers on the agenda and interest is focusing on the impending Carter Handicap at seven furlongs and the Brooklyn over the longer distance. The latter event is the target of the older horses and a glance into the seeing ball reveals some interesting facets for this years running. Well, like everything else, one can wait and hope, for that one to run to expectations.
