view raw text
LOYAL TO GOVERNOR GRAY KENTUC.KIANS LOOK FOR GELDING TOy DEFEAT HOUND THE WORLD. Capt. J. T. Williams Supremely Confident that Son of Garry Herrmann and Salama Can Win the Kentucky Derby. Louisville, Ky., April 29. The loyalty of Ken-tucUiaus is proverbial, liioy are sieautj.st to the finish 111 ail things. This thirty-second degree loyally Is tin; brand the people of central KoiiiucKy are. employing wlieu any o.ie ventures to doubt tlie anility or Governor Gray to wiu mis seasons Kui-tucKy Derby. First aim foremost of all tue others is capt. J. T. Williams, developer of tJovcrnor Gray, lie is positive tliat liis horse can defeat Round the World, favorite of tile race. Captain Williams purchased Governor Gray when the colt was a weanling for i5. Tue youngster was hied by the late Capt. S. S. Rrown, near Lexington, who tlien owned both his sire, Garry Herr-111:1 1111, and liis dam, Salama. The colt lirst attracted attention in his training at Douglas tark when a two-year-old. One morning, worKihg a half mile, he went the distance under -ii. Tne nest that others on the same course had done was around M and 51. Captuiii Williams took Governor Gray to Lexington to run in the lirst lireeders "Futurity. Housemaid won the race. Owing to the heavy track Captain Williams sera ti lled Governor Gray. The horse was returned here. At Churchill Downs lie made his lirst start in the Rashford .Manor Stakes. The event was won by La L Mexican. Governor Gray was the favorite in the race, fie met witli early interference and never was prominent. However, Governor Gray won at that meeting, but was again defeated in i ne mud in a race won ny Labohl. Then Governor Gray was taken to Latouia, where, after Melvor had nosed hlui out in the Harold Stakes, he won the best race of his two-year-old career when he captured the rich Latonia Trophy. Williams raced him once or twice in the fall, but the colt was notoriously out of condition. He quit liis two-year-old season somewhat under a Vloud. Governor Gray retrieved this reputation last win ter at Jacksonville-, crowning his success there by a victory in the American Derby. Tlie. distance was a mile and a quarter and his tune was 2:04j, pearly two seconds faster than the best time of the Kentucky Derby, made by Lieutenant Gibson in 1U0U, his time being 2:UiV. Donaus time in the Derby race in 1010 was 11:01;. Governor Grays time at Jacksonville is the record for an American Derby at a mile and a quarter. In the history of even the Suburban and lirooklyn Handicaps this time lias not often been beaten, even by older horses. It was only twice excelled in tiie Brooklyn Handicap and similarly in the Suburban. It is cliieily upon this race that the followers of Governor Gray depend in the Kentucky Derby. He is the only eligible in the race that has yet gone the full Derby route in a winning race. Tlie longest race Round the World has won is the Juarez Derby, at a mile and one-eighth. Governor Gray is of the blocky type of race horses, the best representative of which was the great Morello. He has an abundance of size and a remarkable depth through the. heart. This is always found in horses that are partial to racing over a considerable distance of ground. In slow exercise he is not pro-possessing. When in full motion he has action as good as any experienced horseman would care to see. Governor Gray has no marked early speed in a race. He is a slow beginner, but he has one wonderful run in him. If properly ridden, witli liis power reserved for such an exhibition, lie is unquestionably capable of great things. Governor Gray is being lilted for the Kentucky Derby by James Evcrnian, in whose hands Captaiii Williams placed him early in the year. Everinan has, in liis day. trained some great horses. He has been particularly prominent in the last two years by liis superior handling of that good sprinter, T. M. Green. Round the World lias improved in appearance during the last few weeks anil her eagerness to run in her trials suggests that she lias freshened up and and is on edge. This grand filly looks the race linrse from the tip of her shapely ears to her tail. While not a large lilly under tlie standard as to" height, she covers a lot of ground, as the English say. and is a finished looking tlirce-yoar-ohl of the typo to be seen in Heron. pictures of tlie old-time Oaks queens. Her track manners could not be improved on. she being a model at the post when facing tlie starting barrier, and no truer running racer was ever saddled. Even when .under punishment she was never known to swerve or waver. She has won many races without" running more than two feet from the inside rail. She can stay as close in as Trance, and all horsemen know what that means. This ability gives her an advantage over a colt of Governor Grays characteristics. On account of liis long stride, he has to swing wide on tlie turns. Then he must have clear sailing in the middle of tlie track, when he makes his final bid in tlin homestretch, to show at his best. In a small field Round the World would have little advantage in such a respect, but in an average Derby field she would have the belter of it. The admirers of Round the World insist upon her ability to overturn all precedent and they will be a disappointed lot if she fails to figure as the first of lie- sex to score a Kentucky Derby victory. W. G. Yanke, her owner, is just as confident of her ability to win tlie coveted prize as Captain Williams is of Governor Grays superiority. He declares that she can do anything any other three-year-old In training can do. Col. M. J. Winn, general manager of the New Louisville Jockey Club, announces that never in his racing experience lias he received so many letters from men of prominence throughout the country saying that they intend to witness tlie running of the Derby on. May j:s. Colonel Winn announces that purse and stake values will, from time to time, lie increased, as patronage warrants. The many improvements made recently at the Downs adds decided beauty and comfort to the plant. The Derby day crowd will be pleasantly surprised by reason of the changes since tlie meeting last fall. The chief improvement, aside from the new paddock and its beautiful surroundings, is the new battery of pari-ir.utuel machines. There are twenty-one , of these devices of the latest pattern. With aliout l.r.OO horses to draw upon for the making up of tlie dailv cards, including most of the great horses of the country, a meeting of unusual brilliancy is assured the patrons of. Churchill Downs.
