The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-09-28
LOFTUS RIDES GREAT
 RAGE ON STROMBOLI
Noted Jockey Enables told Honesty" to Win Stirring
 Battle by Short Head.

Johnny Loftus, the noted jockey, caused a sensation yesterday after noon at the Aqueduct track He put up a finish on the once mighty Strom- Doll in the fifth race that caused vet eran and conservative horsemen to bubble over with enthusiasm and de- clare 1t one of the greatest rides ever seen on the American turf Even
 Snapper" Garrison, who a genera ton ago earned a fame in t.;e saddle that will never die, hailed the per rormance as marvellous. To the crowd 1t seemed uncanny.
 An eighth of mile from home Stromboll, carrying the colors of s. '. Hildreth, was a beaten horse. O. ., Rasch's little brown colt Gloomy Gus was at his throatlatch and full of running, while Major Belmont's for mer idol was staggering from the ef- fects of setting a hot pace for seven furlongs. But Loftus would not al- low "Old Honesty to be beaten and went to work on him with heels and hands.
 For another sixteenth of mile he managed to keep his mounts nose in front Then the old fellow started to "die" and, Gloomy Gus, with little Georgie Walls in the saddle, display ing all the skill and strength he pos sessed, poked his head in front
 To all present the race was over, l for it looked as if Gloomy Gus would score an easy victory. From a head Gloomy Gus increased his lead to a
 neck, but he led by that margin for only an instant. Realizing that a l hard ride, no matter how vigorous Loftus went to the whip. He didn't l want to punish the old fellow severe 1 ly, but he wanted to win. So, with all the force he possessed, he laid the , rawhide over Strombolfs Hanks This | aroused the fighting qualities of the ] courageous old gelding and in few ] strides Stromboli was again on even l terms with the leader. For twenty
 or thirty yards Johnny kept him there without more use of the whip.
 but Stromboli was distressed and l wanted to spot. There were only d few more bounds to the judges and Loftus went back to the whip. With
 one hand he lay it on his charge and
 with the other put up hand ride tn } equal of which is rarely seen on the
 turf. This made Stromboli to try again and he staggered along strIue for stride with the younger and | sturdier Gloomy Gus: Then with the finish line one jump away Loftus l threw down his whiD and fairly Tiff ed his mount home the victor.
 The crowd appreciated Loftus' su- perb jockeyship and when he passed | the judges was greeted with salvos of applause. But they were mild com- pared to the ovation he received
 when he guided his charge back to | the scales. Thousands of racegoers
 gathered around the stand and
 cheered the great jockey for several
 minutes. Even men who had wag-
 cred on Gloomy Gus showered Loftus with praise. It was the unanimous opinion of the racegoers that no oth- | CT jockey on the American turf
 could have landed Stromboli the win l ner.
 1 Stromboli was not neglected by the l crowd, either. It was his first start in more than a year and while some l of the speed and stamina which made him a championship contender twc years ago and earned him the name l of "Old Honestly were lacking, and
 he ran a great race, and covered the l one mile course over a cuppy track ir the fast time of 1:3S -5