New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1921-09-07
Firm Friends Backers
HammerPrice !; MadHat-
ter Wins 2-Horse Race
BY W.. ]. Macbeth

The principles of improving the breed
OF thoroughbrcds as applied at beauti-
full Belmont Park is all wrong, dear
reader, all wrong.
In the old days n successful trainer
was supposed to know something about
conditioning horschesh. 1t is impera-
tive now that he be an honor graduate
in chemistry. II he own a drug store
or two, so much the better. In the
old days they raced horses into condi-
ton; nowadays they prep 'em at night
or out in the woods somewhere and
start them only when they think they
have copper-rivoted cinch on the
purse and a strangle hold on the tough
customers who lay as high as ! to 3
against evenmoney shots.
The card rendered a big holiday
crowd Labor Day afternoon was so
ruined by scratches as almost to leave
the promoters liable to the charge of
taking money under false pretenses
Only. three started in the Fail Handi-
weight Handicap, the highly touted
feature OF what was at best an ordi-
nary card. Yesterdays features went
this one better Only two started in
the Brentwood Handicap at mile and
sixteenth, supposedly the big noise
Of the afternoon. Which was all as it
should be, perhaps, as yesterdays pro
gram was at least third worse than
that of the previous day.
Two of Four Scratched
Originally four were named for the
X nov fvHrN1 RI &
the Rancocas Stnble-Thunderclap and
Mad Halter. Sam Hildreth has the
habit of entering as many as he can to
strengthen his hand and driving the
others out It's we'll known poker
trick. Just how it improves the breed
as applied to horses is somewhat diff
cult to understand. Thunderclap was
scratched yesterday. SO was the
Quincy Stables Captain Alcock. Which
put it up to Mad Halter and A. X.
Macomber's Kingdom II.
The astonishing part was that Mad
Halter won. He was the to Is choice.
He never was let down, but he galloped
six lengths in front of Kingdom II.
in the very good time of 1:44 2-5.
Odds-on favorites have penchant for
being beaten in these commercial days.
There was another race, though,
quite as ridiculous as the feature,
though after different fashion. That
was the last, a dash of five and a half
furlongs for maiden two-year- olds,
which brought out field of a dozen.
1t wasn't the race itself which was
ridiculous. 1t developed one of the
finest finishes you can imagine. 1t was
the speculative manipultations associ-
ated with the trial of speed. And most
Of the ridicule, if heaped at the proper
doorstep, might make it difficult for
some of our exalted turf officials to
get out this morning save by the rear
exit,
This race was won by the FOREIGN
Stables Firm Friend Firm Friend was
backed from to / to to 5. 1t was
the money of the Rothstein clique, so
clubhouse gossip had it, that steadily
hammered down the odds against Firm
Friend. The price on the favorite,
remained stationary The in
grown creed of the oralist is always
down and seldom up with any price.
Last Start Is Recalled
There was an exception to this rule
Of recent memory. 1t was associated
with Firm Friends last start Last
Friday Firm Friend opened favorite
ut to and sky-rocketed to to l at
post time. He ran in cheaper company
and ran as if fitted with divers boots
Clarence Hummer then, as yesterday
had Che leg up
Yesterday Firm Friend was on his
toes and shot away from the barrier
like a wild horse He opened lead
of four lengths in the first quarter,
though in doing so he had to travel
more ground, as the start
is near the turn and Firm Friend was
on the outside. Firm Friend seemed to
weaken in the last sixteenth, but Kun
mer put up a million-dollar finish and
snved the bacon. Aknusti, which broke
slowly, closed with a rush and would
have won in one stride more.
The answer, gentle reader? Page
One of the great surprises of the
afternoon was the victory of F. D.
Weir's Old Rosebud in the first race at