The sun., 1919-05-23
LAEIUS WINNER OF
THE METROPOLITAN
LOTUS Guides Him to Easy
Victory in Classic at Bel
mont Park.
FLAGS FINISHES SECOND
Naturalist, Favorite, Falters
in Stretch and Is
Unplaced.
FLAGS FINISHES SECOND
By HENRY ". KING.

psry George d. wideners imported four
year-old gelding Lanius romped homo
the winner OF the. historic Metropolitan
Handicap at Belmont Fdrk yesterday
afternoon. The Beach StableS Flags
rdded at the last minute. was second,
two lengths back. and Star Master. car
rying the eolors OF A. K Macomber.
finished a poor third, i've lengths behind
EIagS
Johnny Lotus. I'll and Keeling in the
saddle. guided Lanius TO victory. The
premier jockey, who guided Sir Barton
home in front In the Kentucky Derby
and the Preakness, was stricken with
ptomaine poisoning on "wednesday night
and was under the care Of q physician
until n few minutes before the first race.
As the race was run Lanius was much
the best OF the seven noted thorough
breds which went in quest Of the 81, 0oA
Classic Lotus held him or tho pace
while Joseph e. wideners NATURALIST
and Flags raced themselves dizzy dur
ing the first half miie Then Lotus
sent Lanius TO the front 70 win eased up
Because OF the wretched condition Of
the track the race was the slowest In
Its history To cover the ono mile
course Il took Lanius ! :lS2& This II
several seconds slower than an ordinary
selling platter usually runs . mile on a
heavy track
$1,000 Sec the Contest.
Despite the rain and the small fields
more than $4,000 persons were at the
beautiful course. The big stand was
crowded and the clubhouse comfortably
filled, but the clubhouse lawn. which
rkfAa MT ia
and satins worn by beautifully gowned
women. practically was empty. Only
the ultra-enthusiastic horse lovers ven
tured out
A heavy fog lowered over the course
too. and this added to the drearinesa
Rain coats and goloshes took the place
OF expensive spring fncry. Even the
Jockeys wore their rainy day silks and
rubber breaches. Altogether II was an
,nausp!cious opening OF Americas New
market, but the prospects OF better
things 70 come with fine weather later
on tended to Danish the gloom which
temporarily held sway.
As was expected. there were scratches
galore. A host of horsemen feared to
/. chance their valuable thoroughbreds on
so treacherous a track. and withdrew
their charges. But enough were left In
the Metropolitan to promise Q stirring
struggle. OF the eleven over night en-
tries ]. E. wideners Trompe la Mort,
s. c. Hildreth's Luculffte, A K Ma
comber's Hollister. r r. Wilson'S Corn
Tassel and w. X. Goes Sweep On were
withdrawn. but with Flags added the
field remained large enough to satisfy
even the exacting.
Because of his easy victory through
the mud al Jamaica on Wednesday. Nat
uralist was made the favorite He was
heavily backed. and at post time his
odds were . 20 s. Flags also had a
big following. but the remainder OF the
field practically were neglected
Lanius paid to I.
Plenty of Tips I'm Paddock.
There was not the usual rush TO In
spect the contestants IN the paddock be-
fore the race. The roads TO It were ankle
deep with mud. and a vast majority OF
the throng preferred to remain in their
sheltered seats in the stand and club
house. Those who did chance wet feet
and probably pneumonia received tips
galore. Every trainer believed his
charge had a good chance OF winning,
but none vas moro enthusiastic than
Jack Joyner. who saddled Lanius.
''If the race is run the way think II
viii be this horse will win." he told Mr..
George Widener. and all those VINO
visited him in the paddock. Naturalist,
Flags ard Papp will kill one another
during the first half mile. and this fellow
will come on and win" The more the
noted trainer thought about the race the
more enthusiastic he became of Lanius s
chances. ard at post time he dropped all
Ifs and lands" and declared emphat-
cally IN win"
But Tom Welsh was Just as confident
OIL $n l.
widener, would carry off the stake c.
winfrey. trainer of Flags: Max Hirsch
who developed Papp. and all the other
trainers advised a wager on theil
charges.
When LOTUS appeared at Lanius's
grooming station Mr.. Joyner and Mr.
Widener were more solicitous about the
Jockeys health than about their thor
oughbred. They chatted with him abou'
his illaess until after the bugle had
called the -ield 10 the starter.
While boosting the Jockey into tn
saddle AR. Joyner said Lay OF th'
pace. Johnny, and use your own judg'
ment." Those few words were tn,
Jockeys Instructions. and they wer,
enough,
on 10 q Good start.
Pspp had a parade all OF his own
He was led past the crowd In advance
of his opponents He is an ugly tenn
pered colt and his trainer feared HI
might kick some OF the other contest
ants. At the webbing the field behaved
fairly we'll and Mars Cassidy got then
away to a good start
Before the first sixteenth OF a milk
had been covered Naturalist and Flag
were speeding along as a team three
lengths in front of Lanius. who wal
sticking his nose out ahead OF the re
mainder OF the field. which was closely
bupched. Too far in front to splasi
mud on their opponents. Naturalist anC
Flags sped down the backstretch anC
around the turn at a terrific pace.
To majority OF the crowd IL was
two horse race. But not so 10 the vet
eran horsemen. They realized that tn,
pace was too fast for any thoroughbreC
ard looked for a collapse. The collaps,
came At the head of the homestretch
The wild rush during the FIRST half mil,
had staggered both Naturalist auc
Flags. When they faltered LOTUS. wit
had rated Isnius along at a steady
oven pace, made his move. He CAV
his charge few cracks Of his whip
THAT was all that was necessary La
ius responded gamely and In a few
Strices was alongside the dizzy leaders
Mr.. Widener's importation was fresl
aild strong while Naturalist was stop
rlny TO almost A walk and Flags, spen
and exhausted, was staggering o,
slowly.
a. ha2 AN.a 81, -.