Perth Amboy evening news., 1905-05-05
A GRAND INAUGURAL
Metropolitan Handicap Was
Sensation at Belmont Park.
SYSONDY AND RACE KING RUN EVEN
Magnificent Racing Display Witness
ed by $4,000 People = Greatest
Crowd Ever Gathered on an
American Track.

NJ t ORO
ing of the new Belmont park tract
here the spectacle furnished by the
struggle in the Metropolitan handicaI
has seldom been equaled on any New
York race course. An even dozen thor
oughbreds went to the post, Delhi,
Roseben. Leonidas, Pasadena, Tanya
and Sigllght having been withdrawn,
The scratching of Delhi convinced the
race goers that Sysonby had outwork-
ed the son of Ben Brush, and they
made the Keene three-year-old favorlte
at odds of 2 to /. Beldame was heavi-
ly played by the general public at A to
1. These two carried the bulk of the
WagerS.
The greatest crowd V e gathered to
see q thoroughbred horse race in Amer
lea saw at Belmont park a sensational
dead heat finish of the Metropolitan
handicap in which James Il. Keene's
highly : bred three-year-Old, Sysonby,
and o. l.. Richards hardy four-year-
cd, Race King, finished so closely to-
gether the judges were unable to de-
eide which horse o Speculation
was at once rife as to whether the race
would be run off, but both owners soon
announced their satisfaction with the
result rs it stood, and the rich purse,
amounting to more than $4,000, was
divided.
Sysonby, for whom Mr.. Keene last
year refused an offer of 100000, was
the ~favorite in the betting, his stable
mate, Delhi, having been withdrawn.
Race King was offered the public at
long odds, and there were few who
thought highly Of the Tenny colts
chances. The time of the race was dis
appointing, showing that the Belmont
tracks are still new" and slow.
After a rather tiresome delay at the
post the horses were sent away. The
start for the race, which was at one
mile, was directly across the track
from the grand stand, and the great
crowd enjoyed the spectacle to the
full. Santa Catalina had the rail and
showed for an instant in front, but
Sysonby was at her side, and before
the first quarter pole had been reached
the Keene colors flashed to the fore.
Beldame's friends had a ray of hope
for a moment as the mare drew out OF
the struggling mass and took third
place.
Colonial Girl and Race King displac-
ed Beldame and Santa Catalina, who
dropped back hopelessly beaten. First
Mason, stable companion of Colonial
Girl, was not far away, and as the
mass of colors whirled around the bend
into the stretch and directly toward
the grand stand a cheer went up from
the field stand and ran down the broad
lawns to the clubhouse like a roar of
artillery. Sysonby was seen to bear
away toward the outside rail, and at
his side was Race King, the little
swaybacked son of the famous Tcnny.
To even the most hardened race goer
the struggle between these two was
such as to send a lump into the throat.
There was an instant's silence as the
thoroughbreds dashed along the rail,
First one brown muzzle showed in
front and then the other as the racers
strained every fiber to gain an inch.
Shaw and Smith were driving like
mad, but to no purpose, and their
charges finished so closely together that
the judges were unable to separate
them.
Behind Sysonby and Race King. but
on the inside rail, was Colonial Girl,
winner of the Worlds Fair handicap
at st. Louis. Both she and her stable
mate, First Mason, ran n good race.
The others were beaten off.
Drawn by the dual attraction of the
opening of the wonderful new racing
plant on the Hampstead plains Of
Long Island and the fourteenth re-
newal of the Metropolitan handicap.
more than $4,000 people made the trip
to Belmont park and were factors in
the most notable event in the history
of the American turf. The scene in
the vast Enclosure when the handicap
horses paraded to the post was one
not readily to be forgotten.
Rivaling in its extent of patronage,
in the gayety of the costumes, in the
setting of the scene and every detail
Of the surroundings a Derby day at
famous EPSON Downs, the opening of
Belmont park was a hewildering spec
tacle. Racing men of prominence came
from all parts of the United States to
take part in the inauguration of the
new headquarters of the Jockey club,
the governing body of EASTERN racing.
Added to the intense interest display
ed in the new track came the unex-
pected result in the Metropolitan handi.
cap, which before in a history
extending to 1891 has been marked by
a dead heat.
The winner Of the first race quite un'
expectedly came from the stable Of Au-
gust Belmont, chairman of the Jockey
club. To Mr.. Belmont, to his jockey.
w. Davis, and his trainer, A. J. JOY
ner, the Westchester association pre-
scented three large silver cups as SOU
venlrs of the inaugural contest over
A.