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ENDURANCE OF KENTUCKY DERBY HORSES. Proof That the Necessary Preparation Did Not Affect Them Injuriously. By Charles A. Bergin. Louisville. Ky.. March IS. — Does the rather severe course of training undergone by Kentucky Derby candidates, in their preparation for the race, together with the task of going a mile and a quarter so early in the year, ti nil to impair the further usefulness of the three-year-olds as racers.- The recent ••come-back" at Hot Springs shown by Old Rosebud, winner of the 1914 Kentucky Derby. has revived this oft -discussed question among the horsemen at the local tracks. The presence here of a record number of eligible* receiving their training for this years renewal of the race, has served to lend additional interest to the discussion. With each recurring Derby training season, this mooted queettea has been the source of spirited debate, with the majority invariably taking the negative stand. But there have always been some who hold to the :i ITiciH.it i vi- view. A glance at the records of horses that have started in the Derby and helped to make Derby history, since the inaugural running of the race in 1S7." . would tend to disprove the theory that, in a majority of cases, a horse is not of niii-h account after he starts in the Derby. Numerous instances can be cited of Derby colts that have subsequently won additional fame and glory, whose names are enshrined among Americas most noted and illustrious thoroughbreds. Among these are such shining lights as Aristides. Falsetto. Leonatus. Ben Brush, ftpaBa. Spokane. Ten Blinh, Runny -mede. Riley. Crcodmoor. Plaudit. Ornament. Hindoo and others, all of which earned the right to be called high-class horses. Hardihood of the Early Winners. doing back to the early history of the Derby we find that nine winners of the race also scored in the Clark Stakes, which was at two miles, and decided less than a week after the Derby. These winners were Hindoo. Buchanan. Spokane. Riley, Azra. Chant. Halma, Lieutenant Gibson and His Eminence. Horses that finished second in the Derby and subsequently won the Clark Stakes were Creedmoor. Falsetto. Runnymede. Bersan. Blue Wing. Jim lore. Gallifet. Ben Kde r, Corsine and Miami. From 1ST." to 1901 the Clark Stakes was exclusively for three-year-olds and in those days trainers thought nothing of starting a horse in the Derby five days after sending him after the Clark stakes. Since the conditions of the lark Stakes were changed, to admit older horses as contestants, this custom has almost been entirely abandoned. Aristides. winner of the first Kentucky Derby, later on won the Withers Stake at Jerome Iark. Falsetto, which finished second in the Derby to Lord Murphy won the Travcrs and also the Ken-ner Stakes at Saratoga. He was later bought by Pierre Lorillard. who took him to England, where he fell lame and could not be raced. After winning the Derby in 1SS3 Leonatus never lost a race. Hindoo, winner of the ISM Derby, won many races and was probably the greatest horse that ever won the race. An attack of pneumonia, contracted three days after he won the Derby in 1NS0. was probably the big stumbling block to Fonsos subsequent success. Ben Brush, the IBM winner, displayed splendid form anil won many races before he was retired to the stud. Baden Baden, winner in 1S77, lie-counted for the Jersey Derby at Monmouth Iark and the Travcrs at Saratoga. Apollo won after his victory in ISM, scoring in races on the eastern tracks and Buchanan won races at Latonia and elsewhere after he won the 1SN4 Derby. , Feats of More Recent Victors. / Reverting to the Derbys more recent history. w» find that Sir lfuon. winner in MM, won in any races at Latonia and Shcepshead Bay. Meridian, which scored in 1911. also won many races /ml raced each year continuously until retired to the stud by his owner. IJ. F. Carman, inventor Gray, which finished second to Meridian in the Derby, won the Latonia Derby a few months later. Worth winner in 1912. would undoubtedly have won many times but for an accident. Old Rosebud, which ■cored in 1914. fell lame while running in the Withers Stake at Belmont Iark the same year, but the trouble could rot be traced to his Derby race. George Smith, last years winner, ran second later on in the Latonia Derby, over a track that was not to his liking. To show that the c lt is sound, his owner has this year entered him in the Saratoga Handicap and other big stakes. Star Hawk, which all but beat George Smith in last years Derby, proved his soundness by winning three important stakes, these being the Louisville Cup. Lawrence Realization and Locust Valley Stakes. He also finished second in the Latonia Cup, Brooklyn Derby and Travels Stakes. Thunderer, which ran unplaced in the Derby, later on won a race at Aqueduct, lowering the three quartan track record. Dominant did not race after his engagement in the Derby, but his training for the race had nothing to do with his retirement for the year. Dodge and Franklin, which ran in last years Dc-.bv. both acquitted themselves creditably later in the year. Dodge wen the Latonia Derby. American Derby. Saranac Handicap. Illinois odd Cup and the Latonia and Douglas Iark Inaugural handicaps. Franklin won one race and was placed in the American Decay and Independence Handicap. Hodge, which was beaten by Old Bosebud, is still sound and as good as ever, in his six-year old stage. Bronze-wing, which finished behind Hodge in tiie Derby, scored in the Kentucky daks and many other races. Flamma. which was placed in 1912. also was an Oaks winner. Cowcll. another placed horse in the Derby, won the Latonia Derby the same year.
