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"DARK" ELIGIBLES IN THE EPSOM DERBY. Suggestion That Lauderdalo or Petrillo May Be Good Enough to Win. In commenting on a series of artiel s in I ondon Sportsman, analyzing the public form of the coifs and fillies in this years Kpsom Oerby. a chance contributor says: "Since reading your admirable series of arti -les on a Figure Analysis of the Thrcc-Year-Ohis." I have been wondering whether there is any p***t-bility of a Mark Derby winner this year. M first inclination was to dismiss the .subject as an idle one — and so it is to a c rtain extent -but Ihe victory of Common and one t r two others has taught us that the great increase in the value af two-year-old stakes has not resulted in ov.t pot litial Derby hero being of necessity intro duced to the public as a two-year-old. There are. however. so few stables in which the policy of . giving promising young horses ample time is resorted to. so we ar ■ hardly likely to have a Derby runner of MM that has not yet started, unless it be at Beckhampton. where Lord Boseberys dark colt. Lauderdale, is train d. Any authentic news as to the well being and prog less of this good looking bay son of Ladas and Avilion will be received with the utniast interest. For all that we know this coil may be the best three-yt ar-old in training — though it is always, of course, exceedingly improbable that any one given horse, about which nothing is known, will prove altogether out of th ■ common. It is unite possible to make faulty and incorrect deduct loai from the I III II— leaf C that Lauderdale has not b- en taken out of many of his more valuable engag incuts, but on that head we shall have no solid ground to go -!| on liefoic A,.- -* i,; :i- aa is .s the last Tuesday in March, that forfi its are mostly declared for many of the principal races — like the Kclipse Stakes — in which three-year-olds are cFgible to compete. It may be that Darling, who is not given to striking out his horses, has left Laud r-dale in beeaaee he has a belief In his ability to win races: or it may be that he has left him in because, not possessing any definite knowledge of the colts capacity, he will not throw any chance away by eliminating what might eventually turn out to be a good horse. Nevertheless, it is true, all the same, that nothing outside the stable • is known of Lord Roseberys colt beyon 1 the fact that when he was under the care of Blackwell he enjoyed a very tall reputation: indeed. I am giv n to understand he was once tried very smart indeed. "Another dark colt engaged in the Derby is Ietrillo. a bay son of Gallinule and Float, which was a difficult subject to train in iiis juvenile days, and so did not run as a two-year -old. In his gallops. I am given to understand, he goes like a good one. He is in Blackwells stable. I was delighted to see you give a prominent place to Merciitio in your Tiguiv Analysis." as lie is one nobody could help admiring. As a two-year-old there were few of his own age that had greater MOB* for improvement, and I shall always think Koyal Realm and Olympus were lucky to beat him in the Jinn-rack Stakes. At that time he had only been in training eleven weeks, so that his performance- was of greater merit than it really appears. Bowing down, as we all do. to your wonderful talent for summing up the ability of comparatively dark three year-olds, it is delightful to find you singing the praises of Ierrier. Kveryoiie would like to see his majesty owning and breeding a good horse, and we all hope Ierrier will justify the expectations that you and other good judges have formed concerning him. All the same, I have good authority for stating Perrier will not run for the Two Thousand Guineas, and whether he will take part in the Derby parade depends upon the progress he makes between now and June 3. Till we really know something of these colts and Vamose, no serviceable estimates of . the three-year-olds can be passed, but. as with you, it is my impression that Vamose will prove himself to be this season a long way tl e best of the colts."
