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KEIMTUCKY DERBY ASSUMING A MORE OPEN ASPECT | Impressive Work by Various Candidates in Preparation for the Big Event of the Churchill Downs Meeting Leads to Division of Opinion as to Outcome — Some Derby Reminiscences . [ ] ; ; Louisville. Ky.. April l-, — -A week ago Waldo stood out alone, in the estimation of many turfmen, as the probable winner of the Kentucky llerby of UN. Beea Beaadte had suffered several defeats at Jacksonville. Prior to that lie li;:d been looked upon as a dangerous rival to the great Harrison colt. But his Florida failures lowered him in the public estimation greatly. Now Ceorge Keifs Fighting Boh laaaea brightly OB the horizon, due to the most sen-; sational mid-April work ever shown here by a llerby eligible. 1icking up more than his Derby weight and without the aid of a jiaceir.aker. he galloped a mile over a track fully four seconds slow in fhe phenomenal time of I Ait and then cantered another eighth fast enough to beat two minutes. Figured on a fast Hack the mil • of t.:e sou of Knight of Filers lie would have been right at 1:4 . which is ;: second and one-half better than nuv trial run by Winter-, green, winner of the Kentucky Derby of I.MKI. Waldo, the Derby favorite, the same day and over the same track, worked a mile in 1 :." • « and a mile and one-eighth in 2:084, paced by that good horse. Durante. Fighting Bah has wintered here and never had a day in which he failed to improve. He has not been sick a minute, neither has he missed a work nor a feed. He is as lusty and strong today as before he had an hours Derby Irainiug. and looks as if he has taken en llesh with every hit of hard work given him. Fighting Bob is perhaps the highest-type colt that has come from Knight of Kllerslie since the famous Henry of Navarre that made Byron McClel-lands fortune ami won a Suburban for the chairman of the Jockey Club. Fighting Bob is trained bv a skilled horseman of the old school, ami will be ridden in the Derbv by Stanley page, who rode the colt in his two-year-old race*. Trainer OaaaarUI give him a race preparatory to the Derby in the Camden Handicap at Lexington May :!. Trainer Cass ligurt s that unless there are more than ten starters in tin- Camden Handicap, the Keif eolt will not have to carry a five-pounds penalty in the Derby should he win the Camden. Fighting Bab was bred by John Welch, a conductor 011 the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, whose home is at Spring Stari.m. Ky.. where :• • keeps a band of hriMxImaies. Walter Crater broke the coll as a yearling and trained him in his early two-yej.r-old form. Keif buying him last June at private sale. He is named in honor of Bear Admiral Boh Fvans. Fighting Boh stands aboat fifteen hands three inches high and is a borne of wonderful length and leverage. His lis|,osiiion is now perfect and he is at home on any kind of a track, so it makes no difference lo liim whether it is cloudy and rainy or whether the sun shines on Derby day. Another quantity to be reckoned with in the Derby is William Herats candidate. Doiuiu. arith his record of fifteen victories as a two-year -old. la a try-out early in the week, he was always master of his pacemaker, that good horse. Hani. ridge. ?le did not work as well as Fighting Bob from a time standpoint, but the fact that he made a horse like Han-bridge look cheap made him a favorite with many of the trainers at Churchill Downs. Don all has the lmiinding action that made Hindoo and Mm- ih. famous. Trainer Seorge Ham makes no secret of the fact that he thinks Donau will win the Derbv. which opinion is shared by many. Trainer C. «-. Van Meter has never for a moment wavered in his allegiance lo his good coli. Toplaud. another Derby eligible that may be a factor in the event to be decided May 10. Toplaud has trained nicely and Van Meter is ••sweet" on him liecause he believes he will survive the distance. Save Fighting Bab he has worked by the watch as well as any candidate for tin- Derby in training here. He appears to have a nice dash of speed and his trainer says be was beaten three acada in Mexico by old horses in a mile race run in 1:38. D. Austin, who rode him on that occasion, told Mr. Van Meter, when he dismounted, had he n t been liemiue. in on the rail in hnmhatf into the atretch. he would have won. He is bred on Derby lines, as his grand-lam araa a sister to Buck Massie. one of HanovoCs greatest sons. Iossibly the l est maiden in the Derby is Relluf. one of George J. Longs eligibles. Mr. Long also has Don Antonio in the race but of the two Itelluf stands higher in the opinion of trainer Peter Coyne. who several season.-. :,".,. saddled Hie winner of the Derby in Sir Huon. Relluf trained with ill-luck as a two-year aid, but Coynes savs he was his best yearling, and that now. as a three-year-old he seems to have regained his original form. Yesterday he worked a mile at Chun hill Ilea III in 4:44. with his trainer waring him back throagboal the last three-eighths, he having worked the first half in 4!».Sj and the first three -ipiarlers in 1 :!" . The track was not fast. being rather dead from the late heavy rains. Don Ant; ni... stable companion of Itelluf. also did I nice Derby trial, working a mile in 1:45a. Six v.iks agn Fred Lnaadjer did not dream of Itting Callant Pirate for a race like the Derby. The black colt, however, seemed to train differently than any none he had ever handled. In fart, high in lean, he look a sprinter like Dr. Waldo Brigga by the head and ran him into submission. Now Laaader heUeraa he baa a colt of Derby class in Qallaal Pirate. Luzader is not the only horseman who thinks thai the Pirate of I-Mizance colt is decidedly improvd as a three-year-old. Baea Qrande and Bye White, since landing here from Jacksonville, have In en slowly cantered, am! V.. II. Fizer says they are sure Derby starters. The reteraa boraenuui. Howard Corriiran. is now at the lio-.vns mperlateadiag the training of his ten horaea. •ii at which. Ben K. Sleet, is eligible to start in the Derby. Little is known of this colts eapabili ties. Since arriving here he has not been sent faster than a two-minute gait, but he is looked upon with some consideration by horsemen because his owner has saddled one Derbv winner and on two other occasions bis green with white sash was right there ai the finish. Of the nine eliuibies to the Derby not .nattered within the confine* of Churchill Downs. Joe Morris. P.oc.la P.oola. Colinet and John FurLm.- stand out most prominently. All of these but Colinet are at the Kentncky Association track at Lexington, while F. B. Bradleys CoUael is being tilted at Idle Hoar Farm. Of him Mr. Bradlev said, in the presence of . oI. M. J. Winn, in New York, addressing Mr. Harrison, the owner of Waldo: "Your horse is ■ ."! to S choice and Colinet will beat him ami win the Derby." Joe Morris has been regarded as promising on the ] Mgth of his good early two year-old form. He is . beii.g trained bv A. Baker, who campaigned so sue- cessfully that good fillv. Crystal Maid, last year. ] John Fnrleag is credited with being a promising | coir, and is. aside from Itelluf. the most prominent i maiden in the Derby. His trainer. Waller Crater. . •laims that he has ill John Furjoiig a horse of Derbv j caliber, lie is a brother of John HeGnrfc. which | defeated the great UcCheaney. I HiHila Beota is owned by J. N. Camden, whose Miami finished second in the lPt :» Keiiluekv Derbv. He is lieintr trained for the Derby by Jack Keene. .1 who hag the distinction of having won both the i Moscow and St. Petersburg Derhys with the great Uutsiau horse. Diau Lad. | . ] . ] | i . j | I .1 i | — + Recollections of Derhys of the past are always fascinating, and those run farthest back seem to be the ones which leave the most lasting impression. Such a close student of racing as Charles Y. Price, presiding judge at Churchill Downs, in recalling the Derby which was won in IBM by Ben AM, says: •James B. Haggin. accoinpaiiied by his soii. Ben Ali. had come over the Kooky .Mountains with the strongest stable of racers that Kentuckv had ever known. Kvery horse was a star. Besides Hidalgo and others, he had Ban Fox. a sensational eolt that v.as regarded us invincible. He was the ante-post favorite in the Kentucky Derby until two weeks before the event was decided. On a plav or pay basis many thousands of dollars were bet* on hini. It was not known, of course, outside of the state, that Btn Ali. named after the younger Haggin. was a factor in the met — not until a few days before the race was it known that Pan Fox. the favorite, would not start. "When Derby day arrived, a tremeiMlons crowd gathered to see the race. Blue Wing, owned bv Col. William Barnes, of Lexington, was the second Choice. AH of Lexington and 1 avette Count r was on hand, and to a man they supported Blue Wing Plue Wing, in the Derby trial at Lexington, ran the distance in L ::: ;. and the Lexingtouians bet their last dollar on him. "A strange ihir.g occurred that day. not a bookmaker was allowed to operate in the ring. The only method of betting was the pari-mutuel system. It came abonl in this way: "Col. M. Lewis Clark, president of the jockey • lub. had a difference with th- Western Bookmakers Association as to the amount of nionev that should lie paid for the privilege of booking, the split involved a difference of about 0,000. Colonel Clark declared that not a book should go on unless his terms were complied with. "The odds-layers stood amt. thinking that in the end they would triumph, but these men did not know Colonel Clark. And so it was that only the pari-niutuels and auction nools were sold on the big race Young Haginn offered *1. hm for first choice, taking Pen Ali. He bought nearly all of the pools sold ■ ii that hois... The others tapered, with Blue Wing a istrong second choice. "It was a royal race, with Blue Wing a strong contender in the stretch, but Ben Ali proved the victor. Ben Alls time. o;:;,;i ,,„. ,„„. lnj|e aM| n bur, then the Derby route, was the fastest in which the Derby had been run until Sjiokane defeated Proctor Knott a head in 1Ss«». Spokanes time was 2::i. the record for the Kentuckv Derby at a mile and a half." One of tiie greatest crowds in the historv of racing in the middle west or south witnessed the downfall of tiie great Proctor Knott. He was a 1 to 1 favorite, and such was the interest in the race that People came from all over America to witness it. Ihal year the field was free to the public, just as it is going to be this year, and in the enclosure stood thousands of persons, many of them coming there soon alter sunrise of that day in order to secure a place of vantage. S| okaiio was ridden bf To in Kilev. and Proctor Knotts jockey was Pike Barnes. The finish gave very spectator heart disease for almost a minute. Colonel Clark said that Spokane won bv a load, and nobody doubted the judges decision, but the shook was so terrific that some time was necessary tor everybody to reach a normal eandt-tion. In the running of the race, and while entering the stretch. Proctor Knott bolted to within ten leet of the aWtahtB of the track. Kilev. on Spokane wis next to the rail, and as Proctor Knott bore out. KUey t.H.k the center of the course, and when he went under the wire, he was still in the center. while Proctor Knott finished close to the lodges ■land. Turfmen, able to judge, sav that if Proctor Knott had not bolted at Hie head of the atrech, be would have won. inasmuch as he lost six or seven lengths when he bolted. Sam Bryant, the owner of Proctor Knott, made many excuses for the defeat of his horse and he was .liisliheil in claiming that he lost the Derbv because Procter Knott went wide. However, when Bail am and Proctor Knnti next met in the Sheridan Stakes m Chicago. Spokane won rather handily. To this day. men familiar with the turf in the tine, of Spo lane and Proctor Knott contend that Krvant. who adhered strictly to the old style of training, had Proctor Knott honed loo fine. In other words, the horse had been overtrained. Bryant*! idea was if a wet spell came, to give a racer a ball Si.oU.me was a son of Hyder AH. and he belonged to Noah Armstrong, owner of the Montana Stable Although little was known of him. and although he • anie across the continent, be was second choice in Hie Derby, and in the pari iiiutuel machines an unusual thing happened. As it seemed a foregone conclusion hat Proctor Knott would win. few backed him for the place, thinking he would nay little or nothing. The result was that place tickets paid as inncli ;is the straight aapaj would have paUl had Proctor Knott won. Spokane was a blaze faced chestnut. Praetor Knott was a chestnut also, of big proportions, and racy looking, hut with a rather gross head. The New- Louisville Jockey Club, which is BBBanhl to a limited n her of individuals an invitation to join the club, is receiving quick responses. It is an honor to bnlaaw to the New Ivoiiisville Jockey Club and membership carries with it nianv privileges Each member, including the members of his family . excepting sons who have attained the agn of tweu-ty "ii ■ years i. is entitled to admission to the grounds, grandstand, paddock and clubhouse. The clubhouse will be reserved for the exclusive use of the members, their families ami guests. The clubhouse meiiilM-rsliip js now lieing revised for the first time in seven years. The membership embraces the foremost men and families of Lonhrrille and the commonwealth. During the regime of Col. nf. Lewis Clark the stockholders of the jockev club were the members, but the transfer of stock "did not necessarily convev membershio with it. Col. W. B. Applegate nlapiail of all of his once Mg band of broodmares but Voliua. for the reas,,,, hat he owns a number of fillies in partnership with W. C. Yanke. and if the racing horizon clears b" will put these mares in the stud when they are done with racing. If the stable of W. C Yanke has a starter in the Breeders Futurity ai Lexington, it is up to Swish and Incision. Trainer Walker said jreaterday that it will likely 1m. the latter, a black son of Cosarion and Belle Swift. Trainer Walker believes that of Hie entries in training at Chun-hill Downs that are likely to start in the big two-year-old event at Lexington, C. L. Harrisons tillv. Housemaid, and George J. Long** two colts, BaabeTIiah and Bxeasnlar, are the only on, s that look dangerous. The tip from Lexington received by certain stables at the Downs for the race is W. Sliowallers Kleanor Striblim;. rained at Lexington in the stable of June Collins She is a black filly by Stalwart -Two Heart. Bye White, a Derbv eligible that arrived from I.:. I sonville early in the week, worked an easv ball in ON yesterday. Toplaud. the chief Derby dependence of C. C. Vau Meter, worked seveu-eigUtha iu l-.uoi-
