New-York tribune., 1922-05-26

To the Wild acclaim o. more than
$4,000 lovers o. the thoroughbred this
six-year-old son OF FAIR Play stag
yered over The fnish line less than
fuo lengths ahead of Walter I. Sal
mons fine filly. Careful. III the very
creditable tsr1e % l:86 50 The West
mont Stables Scnrings Park. which
twice earlier al Jamaica had taken the
measure o. .hc RancoCas star, was a
hal length behind Careful but clos
ing strong The other half dozen OF
the CLASSY field. drunk and dizzy from
trying to follow killing pace, were
al beaten Of.
Belmont Parks spring opening
rroved an event that VIII flourish
green for all time in the memory Of
every ono privileged 10 be on hand for
the occasion. One Of the very great
est multitudes that has cheered real
thorough breds in real competition
since the halcyon days before the re
roval OF the betting states was out
to paw homage 70 America's Newman
ket. And this attendance radiated
class The exclusive Turf and Field
Club reservation was filled with the
socially promiuert and elite in such
numbers as To make the boxes at the
horse show blush in shame.
Society Out in Force
The "onclosure." which corresnonds
70 the clubhouse ~ other tracks, was
even more congested by those just a
trife less prominent socially. It
seemed every one who amounted to
anything had taken the day off TO
make the forty-eighth running of the
historic Metropolitan Hand cap a red
letter day Of modern turf history.
August Belmont, chairman Of the
Jockey Club and president Of the West
chester Racing Association, came III for
universal praise upon the beautifully
striking picture Of landscape and set
ting. The new paddock. surrounded by
a park studded with wealth of flowers
and shrubbery that bespoke the last
word OF Landscape art, was further
g~aced by the gorgeous effects OF the
feminine fair of societv's ultra eX-
elusive set. For the ladies were out
to see and they strolled about from
saddling tree to saddling tree in al
most every race, particularly so, be
fore the running OF the Metropolitan.
Mad Halter inscribed his name in
the hall Of turf fame by winning a
classic that has qraced the efforts Of
some Of Americas greatest thorough
breds. First Of all, it WAS his second
consecutive triumph in this particular,
highly pri2ed stake. No other thor
oughbred has two Metropolitans to his
credit Furthermore, he set record
for the event. lie won the 1921 run
ming in 1881 2-5. which was the fastest
time made up TO that time. Yesterday
Mad Halter took four-ffth seconds of
his old mark 1t was not track rec
ord Audacious holds the track record
at las 3-5. in a race under i18 pounds
Mrs. Vaus star last June l shaded
Man o'War's mark by q fifth second
But Mad Hatter's 1:36 3-5, under top
weight of 129 pounds, was perform
ance Of which any mans horse might
we'll be proud.
A Thriller for the Crowd
For it was horserace; horserace in
every accepted sense Of the word from
start TO finish; a race that had the on
lockers up in their chairs, roofing like
mad from the time the barrier was
sprung until the first three Of the field
swept past the Judges. And then, again,
If difference Of opinion makes horse rae
ing, this WAS indeed trial Of thor
oughbred skill. For there was great
variance Of opinion. Not q glossy
coated, sleek-limbed horse parading TO
the post but carried thousand well
wishes or more An old-fashioned, wide
open betting race, you might call it.
The start was fair enough for all but
the rank outsider, Polly Ann, and
] Charles A. Stoneham's Yellow Hand
king Of the handicap division last year.
Polly Ann. bad actor, refused to
break and was left. She trailed the
field home furlonP out Of it, Yel-
low Hand and the Quincy Stables Can