Sport: Mahout Takes a Stand

Belmont Park was hot and humid as the three-horse field reached the post for the 54th running of the Lawrence Realization Stakes. It was not the kind of day on which a smart colt would want to run 1⅝ miles — especially when his cut of the $25,000 added purse would only amount to an extra mouthful of oats. And the favorite, Mahout, who twice recently had bested the triple crown winner, Assault, was an intelligent beast. He was also without guile.

During his training moves over the huge oval he had shown speed and stamina, but neither boot nor bat could budge him past a spot on the clubhouse turn where a friendly side road beckoned towards his stable area. He had made plain his stand, or so he thought.

But even the Morning Telegraph had failed to report this little idiosyncrasy of Mahout’s. Anyhow, the crowd was busy counting its chickens. The New York students, who love all favorites, were enraptured: here was a stake horse, with Arcaro up, out for a gallop; any price was a good one. They sent $140,000 into the machines, backing Mahout down to 1-4, then sat back to await the obvious.

Mahout broke well and closely followed Alamond and School Tie for a quarter of a mile — to his favorite spot near the little stable road. There he stopped being conventional. Bolting towards the outside rail, he dug his four feet into the loam, and neither Arcaro’s bat nor his backer’s prayers could move him an inch.

There were few cheers for School Tie, the winner, and no boos for Mahout. The stunned crowd viewed the performance with deep respect. Nothing like this had happened since last May, when a well-backed jumper left the steeplechase course at the third jump, and went for a dip in the infield lake.