New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-02
Dreary, Misty
Opening Day
At RacetraCk
,.Jor of Large Crowd Is
Dampened by Drizzle;
Many Soldiers Out
D, Harriette Undcrhill

Bv Harriettc Underhill
,..orsav was the first Of September
~, is about all that can be said
~ =. opening day Of the fall meeting
p.,mont Park. 1t must have been
o, such another day when LOHs'ell'w
vrots: -. -, sroorr
-. as. and the wind is never weary
w.. Ii,,le later, when Frank Tinney
VI ;,spirsd to produce that immortal
,o,m beginning;
l U,,.,,r it rain or whether ii snow
w ., ans. have weather whether or no
,",.,vill substitute racing" for the
I..I aveather" s. will about express
-. sentiments Of those who gathered
q, The Belmont Park Handicap.
Different "Ovcr There"
, &c wonderful how temperamcntal
-. average American is. In England,
~ instance. yesterday would have
~, considered a fine, sunshiny day,
-. that is cover there Over here It
!, different, and every one seemed TO
axe his pleasure sadly as he wandered
,,-;urctor.ly from the grandstand to
y. paddock and back again. 1t was
zee. even Sam Bernard refused to
:. fanny; the sun refused 70 shine and
very bug'e call that summoned the
t,-ses 10 the track sounded like taps
70 the crowd was not lively II was
,,,re. much larger than one could rea-
s,rsbly have expected on such an un-
i..py day. and a close inspection re-
r,sisd the fact that boys in khaki were
.v,rywhere: only they were 50 success
min csmOufaced against the back
,ro1rS Of mud and wet sward that they
T,Ys as invisible TO the naked eye as
, starters flag Eve furlongs up the
t,,ek. But more Of that later.
Olive Drab in Throng
Esrv rate 10 was proven conclusive
y tbat there are many soldiers who
lave not yet marched away 10 camp.
n, ONLY one whom we identified was
p,ul Lawrence, now wearing the IN
arrjs which 10 the initiated means
Li.utenar, G. ". {.
lieutenant Lawrence is our idea Of
Inst what an American officer should
1, We suggested 10 him that he
risbt have tur,hered the cause by
roppirg az home and gathering re-
usi,s. L would only have been Ueces-
,,ry 70 station him outside q recruit
i-r station. thereby intimat,ng 70 the
f,irt.heartei that they would look like
ts,t in their uniforms. But Mrs Law
rsrfe explained that he hadn't really
begun yet; that he intended 10 become
colonel later on.
w. Lott. Sam Taylor and Godfrey
Freeze were among the tried and true
v,o we're on hand yesterday. Godfrey
lad on the same red and white polka
81 eo!lsr and blue tie which he wors
G. he closing day, or at least one Just
Ike Il.
h was raining when the third race
vas finished. but the real horse lovers
wandered out into the paddock and
watched the candidates for the Bel
mont Handicap parade under the drip
ping, syeet-smel..ng oaks and pines.
Fizer True to Fable
Dsddy's Choice attracted consider
able attention. perhaps because he IS so
easy 70 look a. No one thought much
about the added starter, FIzer. and
those who did found that he was 10 10
!. which didn't sound promising. But
he was carrying only ninety pounds,
end he exemu..scd the old fable Of tho
hare and the tortoise. One Of those
Ubiquitous Smiths, first name George,
lad everything his own way until after
he led into the homestretch. That was
where Fizer's lack Of weight IN the
niile told.
Il was in the steeplcchase that
!ogrg Haynes, who was Up on tX-
re,stion, came 70 grief. Before the
nee there We're mysterious whisper
ngs all around, emanatlng from no
Stere in particular. "Irumpator is
gong to win was the purport. And
lrunpator did wiz.
Howard Lewis trained both the Win-
,sr and Expectation, from the stable
81 J. I. Widener. but n was generally
supposed that Expectation was the bet
,s' horse, and when he was so easily
beaten a. the finish a cry Went up from
Ipeeyed public who felt that they were
toi getting square deal
Comment on Haynes
All sorts o. interesting remarks were
rite. ~ those reirs ever broke
Haynes would fall off the horse back
ward was the way one disappointed