Stunner at Belmont

It is an unwritten law that U.S. Presidents cannot be seen hanging around race tracks. For eight years, while he was President, Dwight D. Eisenhower hewed to convention. But last week, Horse Fancier Eisenhower (he has quarter horses at his Gettysburg, Pa., farm) stood in the rain at New York's Belmont Park with 51,585 other breed improvers to watch the 93rd running of the Belmont Stakes. For Ike, as for everyone else, the star attraction was Carry Back--a little, long-tailed colt who had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. and needed only the Belmont to become the first horse in 13 years to capture the fabled Triple Crown.

As the field of nine thoroughbreds paraded onto Belmont's 1 1/2-mi. track, playful Carry Back seemed unnaturally placid. But the crowd sensed nothing amiss. At one time or another. Carry Back had trounced every other horse in the race. "The only thing that can beat him," crowed Owner Jack Price, "is bad racing luck." By post time, Carry Back was a prohibitive 2-to-5 favorite--every other entry was a long shot. Longest shot of all was a dark bay colt named Sherluck, who had won only one stakes race in two years. The odds on Sherluck: 65 to 1.

Globemaster--a habitual front runner--spurted boldly into the lead. Through the backstretch, Panamanian Jockey Braulio Baeza kept Sherluck comfortably second, just off Globemaster's slow pace. For the favored Carry Back, "there was no running room anywhere," said his jockey, Johnny Sellers. "When I called on him, he just spit the bit out." In the stretch, Sherluck overhauled Globemaster to win by 2 1/4 lengths and pay $132.10 for a $2 ticket. Fifteen lengths behind, Carry Back was a dismal seventh.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.