New-York tribune., 1918-07-31
Shift to Saratoga Track To-rnor]
Empire City Meet
Will Close TODAY

'"S'e' me nOrSeS Will be at Saratoga,
never fear; the followers we'll, that
Is question. A great majority of the
latter haven't enough left to get as
Tar north as Hastings.
Inc names of enough thoroughbreds
appear in to-day's entries to make the
getaway" at Empire CITY attractive
enough; If they should ali start there
would be plenty Of action. But there
IS suspicion that many, MANY of
Ihem, are far, far away=as far as
Saratoga. for instance; a suspjcion
somewhat confirmed by the unusually
heavy scratching witnessed through
yesterdays programme
-, however, that is neither here nor
there. The main point at issue for dis
cussion has to do with Yesterday
Yesterdays Goings cannot be severely
condemned in view of what had gone
before. Two favorites won, ANYHOW.
and that was really an astounding set
OF circumstances, as favorites had
played dead three days hand running
What though the favortes in question
were meagre odds-on choices. The pub
nc mad an opportunity to shout in glee
at least once for every three trials
Western Horse Wins
AND one of the winning favorites
was a Western horse, ridden nv a
Western jockey, so that the objects
or perhaps, better, subjects-of the
fonkers benefit had a chance to laugh
alongside the easy going and long suf-
1erlng Eastern public The inported
pay, colt Chasseur, Of the Kentucky
Stable, in the $4,000 Wakefield Handi-
cap, at flve and half furlongs, stood
OUT o as prominently over Translate and
belario, the only two-year- -olds to con-
test, the honor. as lighthouse against
a dark night. All that Sande' the
western rider, had to do was to keen
ms saddle. Indeed, he might have
fallen Off and still won had his mount
not get away from him in the interim
Chasseur's victory was next thing TO a
walkover ~
Yet. it was no more impressive than
the victory of Tippity Witchet in the
curtain raiser. This three year old
geidlng, for which John Sanford paid
more than $4,000, made his first p an
pearance Of the season in the metro
politan circuit The layers showed
that they are not accustomed to be
looking up the chimney when oppor
tunlty comes rapping at other folks
door when they LAID only to against
the high valued gelding's chances.
llpplty Witchet simply galloped all the
way under Walls, and. though African
Arrow ran right up to snuff, beat the
second cholce IN breeze by a half
dozen lengths in the good time of
1889 for the mile.
Fifth Run in the Rain
1t wouldn't be an Empire CITY race
meeting unless at least one gorpeons
electrical display of nature were nro-
Video TO entertain the high brow lovers
OF nature. and warn the gas-pipe gang
which makes hay while the sun shines
always. The May November Farm
handlcap tor three-year- -olds and up-
"aro, tne NTH event of the card was
run IN deluge. 1t was raining so
hard when the field went to the post
that 1T was almost impossible, even
with the high powered glasses, to dis
tlngulsh washedout colors The track.
by this time. needless to say, was a
sloppy sea of fetlock- deep slush.
Hamilton A., third choice in the
opening betting, which was backed so
heavily that he went to the post
a favorite, just managed to win this
event from Top O the Morning 1t was
by tar the most thrilling contest of
the afternoon, thrilling as Well as
spectacular. All the way it was fight
between Hamilton A. and TOP o. the
Morning, which opened a split favorite
with Jock Scot, but receded continu
ally TIL post time. 1t was a fight be-
tween these two high-class thorough
breds as we'll as between their respec-
tive riders.
Hard to Decide Winner
At the finish it was almost impossi-
Bile to distinguish the winner. as il
was impossible to determine which of
the two jockeys had displayed the
finer horsemanship-M Molesworth, who
won the> brackets, or Walls. against
whom the final verdict went. Indeed
the judges themselves appeared some
"hat at sea for second or two and
were deliberate in hanging out the
numbers. To all except those or on the the
dead d-llne it seemed as close to
dead heat as could be- Evidently
Hamilton A. was lucky enough to he
bobblng down as he hit the finish line
Hamilton A. showed the early foot
and at the end of a half mile held the
lead of more than length. But TOP
o the Morning came with great rush
then and inside a furlong succeeded
IN mn moving up to even terms. A hun
seemed as if the latter held the ad
vantage. From there on apparently
the lead seesawed with each alter
nate~e%ride. 1t was a whipping finish.
and Hamilton A. outgamed Tor o. the
Morning IN the final strides. Jock
Scot couldn't untrack himself in the
peculiar going and finished absoluterV
last. IVY
No Bid for Hamilton A.
Apropos of the triumph of Hamil-
ton A, little human interest story
might not be amiss. Just a week ago
yesterday Hamilton A. won a selling
race at Empire City. Though he was
entered at $780, there was no bid foc
him. This, in spite of the fact that
1T had been bruited about that the
owner, Colonel w. f. Applegate, and
trainer. F: D. Weir, regarded the colt
as particularly bright prospect. in
which connection it may be remem-
bered that Jack Hare, jr., now the
apple of Colonel Applegate's eye, made
his Eastern debut in a selling race
and escaped the auction block also. S
did Hamilton A. yesterday
The customary Preece testimonial
(Which has become habit with the
closing event, it would appear de-
veloped in the sixth. when little Ouen-
tin of the family name scored with
Joan of Arc, 80 to 1 shot. Sherman
A., the hot favorite, which Threatened
to tow-rope the field until he hit the
head of the stretch. folded like can
umbrella then, and Wakoff let him
fold
Preece Twice Victorious
Little Preece, by the way. was the
OnlV Jockey win t,ro rooo-