Evening star., 1952-06-08
.1-to-2 Favorite
Fails in Stretch
After Fast Start
Winner Pays $3.50;
Armogeddon Third
In Six-Horse Race
py LEWIS Y. NtCHISUH
Sfor Stoff Correspondent

siar stoff Correspondent
NEW YORK. June THE
three-year-old championship was
wrapped up. waiting to be de-
livered to Arthur w. Abbott's Blue
Man at Belmont Park this windy
but the celebration had
to be postponed.
Instead, Eddie Arcaro had to
another celebration OF
his own, for the 36-year-old jock
ey romped off with the 84th Bel
mont Stakes aboard One Count,
owned by Mrs. Walter M. JET
fords, Philadelphia socialite.
All Blue Man. a 1-to-2 shot with
the crowd of 43,598. had to do to
get the title was to run mile and
a half faster than his five rivals.
This, coupled with his impressive
triumph in the Preakness at Bal
timore three weeks ago, would
have given him a convincing claim
to the years laurels.
Blue Man licked four of them
all right, but the fifth, a painting.
prancing son of Count Fleet-Ace
Card, beat him to the wire by 2a
lengths and knocked the title
picture completely out of focus.
was third, 10 lengths
back of Blue Man.
Title Yet To Be Decided.
Thus, instead of settling the
three-year-old title claims, the
Belmont blew them sky high, leav-
ing the summer stakes to decide
which of the crop will 60 down in
the record books as the best. Hill
Gail, winner of the Kentucky
Derby. first lap of the Triple
Crown completed today. is side
lined with an injury. so the rest
of the year may see Blue Man, One
Count and couple of Johnny
e-latelys battling it out.
The Belmont outcome left the
experts gasping for explanations
and most of the fans moaning be-
cause they hadn't ridden with
Eddie"
1t was Arcaro'S fifth Belmont
victory, putting him in tie with
the great Earl Sande. The all
time riding record for the race
was set back in the 1905 by
an old-timer named Jimmy Nc
Laughlin, who won the Belmont
six times in seven tries. Nc
Laughlin's son was here today, as
was Sande.
The fans had no alibi for the
result, but the experts variously
explained that the strong wind.
a spawning so'wester. and Conn
McCreary's tactics in rushing Blue
Man to the fore too soon helped
upset their calculations. To wait
longer, McCreary would have had
to give the field five-minute
start, for the early pace was not
very fast.
Two Seconds Off Record.
The winning time of 2::30H over
a fast track was considerably
slower than the record 228H
made by One Counts old man in
l943 and equalled by Citation five
years later. 1t was the second
straight victory for a son of Count
Fleet, who won his Belmont by
25 lengths. He also sired Counter
point, who won last year and sub
sequently was adjudged the best
three-year-old of the year class.
But One Count got one record
for himself today, picking up a
check for $82, 400 out of the gross
purse of $118,500, which is $400
more than the record sum Coun-
terpoint>received last year. Nearly
1871 in the betting, the winner
paid $27.60, $3.50 and $3.50 across
the board. Blue Man paid $3.50
and 1920, while Armageddon re-
turned $2.70 for show.
A total of $254,43O of the $44S.-
072 pool was wagered on Blue
Man in sending the son of Blue
Swords to the post at to 2.
Master Fiddle, partly owned by
Meyer Major of Washington. was
an early scratch. while Golden
Gloves, who battled it out with
Armageddon in the Peter Pan
Handicap a week ago, was late
withdrawal. 1t was disclosed that
Trainer Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons
hadn't been too keen about Gold
en- Gloves chances, but Owner
William Woodward wanted to
have an entry. Woodward and
the late famed Dwyer brothers.
who scored their victories in the
80s with the horses Jimmy Nc
Laughlin rode, both have five Bel
mont winners, and woodward was
hoping to break the tie.
One Count won impressively and
Arcaro may have. discovered the
secret of success when he finished
third behind Blue Man and JAM
pol in the Preakness. On that
occasion, Banana Nose" noted
that Trainer Oscar White said
(COntinued on Page B-5. Col. 81