Rubber Match

After losing three out of four races this year to Preakness Winner Hill Prince, Middleground, winner of the Kentucky Derby, was beginning to look like something of a fluke. As 39,000 spectators craned toward the starting gate at New York's Belmont Park last week, Hill Prince was the odds-on (17-20) choice to wrap up the rubber match of 1950's top three-year-old races.

But the bettors had overlooked a couple of points on the performance charts. At the classic distance of 1 1/2 miles, the Belmont Stakes is a "breeder's race" where stamina and breeding* tell. And Belmont's fast, sun-baked track was made to order for Middleground's tastes. Said one jockey: "When he can hear his feet rattle he's a running son of a gun."

For the first full mile, Middleground's 18-year-old Jockey Willie Boland hung just back of the pacesetter and bided his time. Headstrong Hill Prince shot into the lead despite Jockey Eddie Arcaro's tight hold ("He got away from me") and held the pace up through the final turn. Then, with a bare 250 yards to go, Hill Prince faltered into the ruck.

As the Prince faded, Jockey Boland made his move with three sharp cracks of his bat. In the last 100 yards, Middleground collared the leading Lights Up, won by a clear length.

It was a convincing victory for underrated Middleground. The best Hill Prince could manage was a sorry seventh place. The winning time (2:28 3/5) was the second fastest in the Belmont's history, bettered only by the 2:28 1/5 of Count Fleet in 1943 and Citation in 1948.

*Middleground's sire: Bold Ventura Kentucky Derby winner in 1936, who also sired the 1946 triple-crown winner, Assault.

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