New-York tribune., 1916-06-25
Belmont Colt Veritable
ThunderbOlt in Last
PAGES of Struggle.
$4,000 WATCH
THRILLING BATTLE
Pennant Finishes Second, After
Two Years Spent in
Retirement.
By Z. ID. BURROWS.

For the first time in the history Of
the American turf three-year-old
thoroughbred which had already won
the Suburban Handicap came back and
captured the famous Brooklyn Handi-
cap, the twenty-seventh running Of
which featured the opening day of the
1915 Queens County Jockey Club meet
ing at Aqueduct track yesterday.
August Belmont's gallant chestnut
colt, Friar Rock, was the horse to turn
the trick, and $4,000 enthusiasts
watched him come Ike a thunderbolt
in the last PAGES of the -furlong
scamper and defeat as good septet
Of whizzers as ever followed leader
home in the great American classic
AS was the case in the Suburban,
Friar Rock was comparatively neglect
ed in the wagering. Andrew Miller's
Roamer, Harry Payne Whitney's Pen
nsnt, Emil Herz's imported horse Short
Grass and +. T.. Roses Sand Marsh
being favored over the son of Rock
Sand and Fairy Gold. But when the
test came the Hildreth-trained speeder
rot only took the measure of all of
these great runners but broke the
track record for the event, clipping
three-tifths Of a second from the previ-
GUS best mark, established last year by
Il T. Wilson's Tartar.
A Bitter Struggle.
The Brooklyn Handicap of 1916 will
VNVa -r..sk ksssll
as one of the most regally contested Of
the twenty-seven races which bear that
name. incidentally, il showed to re-
markable advantage the handicapping
abilities Of ". S. Vosburgh, who pro-
nounced the weights to be carried by
each horse entered in the event At no
time during the running of the first
mile of the race WAS there a single
horse which might have been consid-
cred hopelessly out of the struggle:
which fact is best proven by the per
formance of the winner. which came
from next to last in the backstretch
and flashed home a bare length and z
half ahead of Harry Payne Whitney's
wonderful entry.
While the highest praise and credit
must go to Friar Rock and his sterling
little rider, Everett Haynes, the per-
formance of Pennant, which finished
second, should not be overlooked. This
remarkable fve-year-old son Of Peter
Pan and Royal Rose has been in retire
ment for the last two years, having
suffered a breakdown in 1914 and been
withdrawn until Trainer Jimmie Rowe
should decide that he was ready TO
race again.
No other American thoroughbred has
ever made such spectacular come
back" as did Pennant yesterday after
noon. Matched against the best that
America can produce in the way Of
horsefesh, the son of Peter Pan was
always up with the leaders and only
lost first money By what may safely
be called a bit of racing luck.
Had Joe Notter dreamed that Friar
Rock still possessed that tremendous
speed reserve which he called into
play in the last eighth OF a mile he
might have asked little more of PEN
nant and whisked him across the line
in first position As il was. the Peter
Pan whizzer was caught a bit o guard
in those closing strides. and so lost
chance TO make a name for himself
which would have endured as long as
history.
Gave OF Their Best.
OF the other entrants in the great
race there is little enough 10 be said.
Each end ayery ono oF then, gave NJ