view raw text
KENTUCKY DERBY DAY NEARLY HERE Longs Sir Cleges Likely to Be Favorite and Shows a Good Trial Louisville Iy May 2 Every year since 1875 in tin month of May a thoroughbred is crowned a Derby winner at Churchill Downs the oldest race track in America in point of continuous existence Just so often does the blood of every true son of the commonwealth tingle in anticipation of this blue ribbon event and right now the natives are l li i jIy absorbed in the result for the thirty fourth renewal of the classic is at hand Next Tuesday is Derby day dayAnd And Derby day iu the land of fleet horses is more than an incident It is an occasion for gen ¬ eral jollification Rich and poor witness the race if it is a physical possibility Time was when the field was free and the populace journeyed to i lie course on foot and in every conceivable style of conveyance to see bosses that were bosses from muzzle to heel But the gates were closed and black and white young and old little and big were asked to Hash credentials to gatemen It made no difference The public kept right on com ¬ ing and the public will be there on May 5 the bluebloods of the state tlie l eaury chivalry and all that all on an equal footing all trying to pick the winner winnerWhen When those of a speculative tendency dig into their pockets to render themselves eligible to back their faith they will find themselves carried back to that day when a Kentuckybred horse Proc ¬ tor Knott bowed to the supremacy of an opponent that was bred in Illinois and came from the far west Spokane That was in 1SS9 the year when the parimutuels ceased to exist In the west and iu America for the bookmaker gained individual su ¬ premacy that year and he has thrived until scandal lias driven him step by step to the outer walls in many statts with Kentucky one of the last to bid him goodbye llesurrectiou comes after patience has long been exhausted The parimutuel ma ¬ chines are set in action after they had been for ¬ gotten and are made to serve the purpose of re ¬ deeming the betting end of the turf and making fcocure its future futureTiie Tiie whole turf world that is in America will watch with interest the result of this innovation The iKJOkmakcrs influence on race tracks is not a theory It is a matter of record and regret and men of experience who have the welfare of racing at heart say he must become a memory and the parimutuel machine must become a fixture fixtureSmart Smart ones say Sir Cleges is going to win the Derby If this prophecy is verified it will add to the record of George J Long a triple vic ¬ tory of the Derby And If his Sir Cleges Is first under the wire it will be the fourth sou of Fal ¬ setto that has been crowned a winner of the Ken ¬ tucky classic Chant was the lirst of Falsettos get to triumph That was in 1804 In 1901 His Eminence Won and iu 1906 Sir Huon captured it This Is a record unsurpassed by any other sire iu tills country countrySir Sir Cleges trials lead to the belief that he will develop Into as great a horse ns his halfbrother Sir Huon In a mile and a quarter workout last Wednesday he stepped the distance In 210 At the end he was not taking a short breath The j track was slow and spongy in spots The trial was made when the wind was sweeping from the Downs and It was raining The air was raw A more unfavorable time could not have been selected for tlie tryout but It proved Just what trainer Coyne Uiad all along contended that Sir Cleges is really machineryAil a grand piece of racing machinery Ail along Coyne had known that Sir Cleges and Ballms would loaf if worked separately so he set the pair down side by side to get every ounce out of them They had not gone a quarter of a mile until it was seen that Balbus could not get close enough to look into tlie eye of his stable mate Sir Cleges at the faintest sound of his pursuers ap ¬ proach let ont a link and went right on about Ills business Reaching the half mile ground he was a picture His motion was perfection With a long low stride he devoured space At the three quarters he had Increased It and at the mile he was going still faster The sturdy chunky Balbus a sprinter through and through was making a gal Jant struggle but the trimly built bay colt was going too fast Sir Cleges looked and acted just like Sir Huon and Coyne said that the horse would show In his threeyearold form that few racers in the west can get close to him After Sir Cleges had gone a mile he was pulled up and cantered out the eighth So did Balbus When he saw the Atlier bbrpe taking his time he began to loaf too The boy who rode Sir Cleges said that the colt bad his head in the air all the time be was run ¬ ning and that be could have run the mile in much faster time than 145J The track was deep In mud and at least two seconds slow slowWhile While Milford which is owned by W H Flzer wia first choice In the Derby a week since he Is Hot liked as well now as some of the horses which mil a day or fwo ago Milfpru exploded lu mile irace at Lexington finishing third to J R Wninwrights Torah Fizcr had felt that his son of Falsetto was unbeatable iu the Derby and con ¬ sequently in no danger iu any kind of a race with other starters Possibly jockey Butler spilled the buans but it remains that Milford lacked tspceil and staying power Maybe as Fixer says it was ill racing luck At all events Milford lost many supporters However Milfonl is looked upon as a certain starter in the big race He has reached Churchill Downs from Lexington and is in good condition Fizer says that any horse that could run a mile in less than 140 at New Orleans which Milford did can go fast enough in the Derby but this argument will lead individuals who study the various angles to say that if Milford could do no better than show in a mile race with Terah with ninetytwo and a half pounds on his back lie will have all kinds of trouble shouldering 117 in the Derby and making any headway with it itIn In tlie ineantme Terahs owner feels that If his horse had been left in the Derby he could have won it handily George C Bennett just before selling Terah in New Orleans to Wainwright for 850 declared Terah from the Derby Since then the horse has been showing exceptional speed Surprises speedSurprises came fast during the week concerning the rise and fall of Derby idols While Milford was apparently dropping to a lowly position in tlie publics cstimaton Frank Bird owned by W A Hughes and Gilvedear the property of Allan Steele shot across the racing horizon Frank Bird worked a mile and a quarter at Plmlico in 2OSjJ and Gilvedear went the same distance n 209 Sir Huon won the Derby in 2OSJ and John B Mad dens Plaudit won it in 1S9S in 209 Agiles time was 210J and Pink Star was first last year hi 212J but the track was heavy and holding holdingIf If Frank Bird which is by Gotham Messalia and Gilvedear which is a son of GIganteum Sea Puss can repeat their work at Plmlico they will be dangerous Frank Bird will arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday He will be ridden it is un ¬ derstood by J T McFadden Gilvedear will reach the course tomorrow He is small swift and can carry weight Gilvedear was bred iu New Jersey Recently he won at Benning and finished second in another race raceBanridge Banridge is coming along fast In his trials He will go to the post sure if the track is heavy His owner Barney Schreiber has given special in ¬ struction regarding his preparation He feels that Banridge has a chance This horse was hardened at City Park and Fair Grounds in serving as Jack Atkins pacemaker during the racing season recent ¬ ly closed there and lie kept improving In going a distance He ran some good races with Angelas Miss Delaney Darling Dan and others In the An gelus race he was beaten only a length and a nose In the race with Darling Dan at a mile and seventy yards lie was beaten a neck Darling Dan had a shade of nine pounds iu weight In soft going lie is right at home Banridge probably will be knocking at the door when the Derby is run runDr Dr Mathcws Edward Alveys Derby horse was worked a mile in 1452 The track was slow This trial was satisfactory but the announcement was made that the horse had pulled up lame It is probable that the colt will start and if he does he will bear watching Alvey is a man of luck and lie does not race his horses altogether for fun G rover Baker trains for the stable and lie seems to know how to get horses ready for the races racesDunvegan Dunvegan from the stable of J N Camden Jr and Bill Herron which belongs to Barney Dreyfuss the Pittsburg baseball man are no longer dark horses They were uncovered at Lexington and their trainers wore disgusted at the showing each made If either of them can win the Kentucky Derby It will be safe to bet that William II Taft can win a foot race with Louisvilles champion run ¬ ner Nat Cartinell CartinellSynchronized Synchronized positively will not start In the Der ¬ by He has been iu disgrace since the day Terah ran away from him and hid Stone Street is a probable starter He belongs to C E Hamilton Uncertain starters are Dunvegan Bill Herron Al Muller Alomar Cymbal Zagg Pink Cap and Mar ¬ cus Aurelius i iThe The officials at the spring meeting at Churchill Downs will be Presiding Judge Charles F Price Associate Judges Charles F Grainger and Will Shelley Secretary and Handicapper Lyman II Davis Starter J J Holtniau Starting Judge Waller II Pearce Patrol Judge Charles C Foster Paddock Judge John Walsh Timer George Liu
