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SUNDAY, MAY 6, 1917. EASTERN KENTUCKY DERBY NOTIONS. Well Defined Opinion That the Big Race Will Fall to an Eastern Owned Colt. Baltimore, Md.. May .1.— The coming week will witness the assembling at the several race tracks of Kentucky of the ten or a dozen so called cistern candidates for ths coming Kentucky Derby, horses so characterized, not liecause they were foaled and raised in eastern states, but liecause their lots have fallen with horsemen who generally support racing about New York and in Maryland aiid, unless the devotees of racing on the Atlantic slope of the Appalachian divide read thoroughbred form wrongly, the treasurer of the New Irfiuisville Jockey Club will next Saturday credit the winners part of the .1.000 Derby money to a so-called eastern owner. There is not. pei haps, among the stalwart runners that will bear the silks of an eastern owner at Churchill Downs this year, a colt eligible that has won the notoriety given to George Smith, last years Derby winner, by the industrious press agenting of his sale to John Sanford for 0,000 in the autumn of 1448, nor is there a potential filly contestant, that has earned anything like the reputation the brilliant Bcgret won at Saratoga ami Belmont Bark in the summer and autumn of 1914. But in Omar Khayyam. Skeptic. Ticket, Rickety, Tumbler. Hwfa. Bellringer, King Herod. Jack Mount and one or two others, the east is sending west an uncommonly formidable array of three-year old talent, an "array eastern turf followers of speculative bent will not lie found afraid to back with confidence. And against these speedy colts, nil of which have won reputations of some sort on metropolitan and Maryland tracks, either last summer and f ;. II or in the course of the new season, that was inaugurated at Bowie on April 2. it does not appear, from where the easterner sits, that the west has much that is dangerous to meet. Harrv Kelly, wl ich came east in the stable of John W. Schorr early last summer, with the reputation of having been the fastest and best youngster developed on Kentucky tracks in the spring, failed to impress a critical and. not unsympathetic crowd at Yonkers, with the notion that lie was a long distance runner! At Saratoga in August. John W. Barrish stripped Midway, a plain little son of Ballot Thirty Third, which the east was fully prepared to take seriously, not only because he happened to Ik- the son of a rising young sire, whose two-year-olds had been winning more than passing notice, but because he was entitled to call himself a half-brother of the useful Buckhorn. a gallant Bi klyn Handicap winner. But Midway, too. failed and. although due consideration is given to his mile under B/eight in 1:44 later on at Latonia, discriminating students of form cannot figure him to have much of a chance with tin- like of Skeptic, Hwfa. Ticket and King Herod. Westy Hogan Considered Only a Sprinter. It was not given hist year to the east to see Westy Hogan in action, but the sprinting pedigree of that lightfitoted son of Dick Kinnell seems to let him out. and as for Cudgel, lVnmd. Grata Jones. Ceorge C. Love and their kind, they appear to In- out of phaee in such a race as this years Derby appears certain to be. Trevisco. the wests imported possibility, like North Star and War Star, the easts most formidable im porta I ions of last year, is really an unknown quantity. Treviscos victory in the Baldovle Plate seems to have been regarded in Ireland as something of an achievement, but. probably, it was not a more creditable performance than Skeptics effort in the Futurity, or Hwfns in the Piping Bach Invitation Handicap and. by the same token. North Stars triumph in the Middle Park Plate should not entitle him to higher consideration as a Kentucky Derby candidate than Tumblers victory in the Tremoiit at Aqueduct. llourless. which later was destined to prove the most formidable rival of the champion Camplire. was one of the high-class youngsters that finished behind Ticket in the Tremoiit. And. perhaps, it would be well to keep in mind the fact that some British turf critics question the ability of A. K. Macombers costly Snn-star colt to maintain his speed over a con-iderable distance of ground, notwithstanding North Stars victory in the Middle Bark Plate. Tl I character of this years Derby is indicated by the circumstance that there is not among these formidable eastern candidates a horse prospective bettors are willing hi unite on. as they were on Gearg* Smith last year, or on the splendid Begret in IMS. The Whitney quart. -tie. Hwfa. Tumbler, Bellringer aid Uickety. have their supporters, because of the turfs abiding faith in the judgment and skill of James Bowe. Skeptic is the choice of one large contingent and Ticket of another; Mnnr Khayyam is strongly favored by the shrewd who watched his systematic training at .New-Orleans and Hot Springs through the winter, and in Kentucky these three or four weeks under the eye of Charles T. Batterson. the developer of Hamburg and Ornament. King Herod the strapping sea of Colin and Acolat, which has been racing so well at Bowie. Havre de Grace ami Pimlico. has an enthusiast ic following among the pattaaa of Mary-l.i nil racing. King Herods Improvement Steady and Sure. Since his victory over Tumbler there has been nothing in the training of King Beted, with which his youthful trainer "Puddin" McDaniel could find fault. Not once has he turned his head from the feed box and he has shown it steady improvement in both speed and track education. A sixteen header, scaling dose to 1,125 pounds, he is actually gaining in avoirdupois. There is no haadpesct ST better muscled three-year old in these parts and none that has anything on him in action. In the matter of breeding he yields nothing to the best horse that ever won a Derby. Of Colin, his daddy, it is unnecessary to write to American thoroughbred lovers. KvcrylMidy remembers the brilliant career, a career unblemished by defeat. Acolat. King Herods dam. was a daughter of Pioneer a half-bother of Oallinulo. sire el Pretty Petty and Aim. whose mother was a sister of Sterling, the celebrated son of Oxford, to which Kinley Mack. Hermis, Top Callant. Atheling. Bryn Mawr Mini Dalhousie. Oalliiiule and Bretty Polly, Star Sheet, Incle. Old Rosebud and two score or more other runners of European, American and Australian celebrity trace in the male line. The stories of Oraat Hugh Brownes turning down offers of .1.-444 and 444,444 for King Herod are not mere press agents yarns. James Rowe has not taken the public in confidence as to his Derby plans. Harry Payee Whitneys close-mouthed trainer plays his cards close to his vest. But it is generally hcUcTCd that Hwfa is the horse among the Whitney eligibles in which Bowe has the most confidence. Hwfa is a HI hand brown gelding by Hamburg — Dovelet. she a laughter of Ieter Ban — Cushat, the last-named having been a daughter of Hermit and the mother of the onetime noted fencer. Cock Robin. Hwfa began his career at Piping Rock last June as a stallion and celebrated his first appearance under colors by taking the measure of Omar Khayyam in the Piping Bock Invitation Handicap. Locust Valleys richest two-year-old race. Shouldering a burden of IIS pounds in the Invitation Handicap, Hwfa galloped five-eighths and about eighty yards over the sodded two-year-old course in :."»S flat. He did not return to the races again until the autumn meeting at Belmont Iark and. when he came back to win a maiden nice, for which he was eligibl" in spite of hi. Plpfag Bock victory--which had netted the Whitney stable the substantial sum of 1917.sh.0.10 — because the Invitation Handicap had been a private sweepstakes, he came back as a gelding. He had developed a temjier early in the summer which hr.d made getting him ready for the Futurity and the Saratoga Special impossible and Bowe had him altered. All reports from Brookdale Farm indicate that Hwfa has trained satisfactorily and there is no more robust three- year-old in the east. Hwfa is a Hamburg in type, which is to say he is heavy topped and rangy, and his muscular development is uniform and pleasing to the eye. Rickety Best of Whitneys Youngsters. Rickety, which put Campfire to a drive in the Futurity, after an inauspicious beginning, was the most reliable two-year-old that appeared under the Whitney silks last season. But he was wabbly on his underpinning and doubt is entertained as to 1 ™ his ability to stand up ever the Derby course. How- ever, he is a well balanced gelding of exquisite finish and his pedigree is gilt-edged. Broomstick was his sire and Queen of Hearts, a sister of Artful and one of the most reliable of the producing mares at Brookdale, was his dam. The failures of Bellringer and Tumbler, the first named a son of Burgomaster and the Himyar mare Vespers and the fastest worker among the Whitney two-year-olds at Saratoga last summer, disappointed their admirers at Havre de Grace early in the month, Continued on eighth page. i I I 1 . | I . I I • , EASTERN KENTUCKY DERBY NOTIONS. Continued from first page. but it would be unwise, perhaps, to discount their Derby chances. As one swallow is not believed to make a saunter, neither does one victory or one defeat establish or s|K il the reputation of a race harae. The fact that Kowc has recalled Tumbler and Pellringer to Brssknule, instead of having them with Albert Simons to make the coming Can adian easBpalga, or t" be -.old. Would seem to indicate that he has not abandoned hope that they will prove themselves worthy to continue to bear the silks of one of the wealthiest of American sportsmen. Ticket, a son of Basset — Ptsaceaa Orna, was one of the two high -class youngsters by the greatest of the sons of Voter to come to the eastern races last year. He has not much to lioast of in the matter of size, but he is compactly made and strongly underpinned. Moreover, he has proved his ability to maintain his speed over a considerable distance of ground in any sort of going. Ticket was at his best at Aqueduct in July when he won the Tremont. the first eastern race of the year at three -quarters of a mile for youngsters of the best class. He trained off at Vonkers an 1 diil not sheer his real merit, either at Saratoga in August, or in Maryland in September and October. Put his recent success at Lexington would seeni to indicate that A. J. Goldsborough has him at the top of his form this spring. The other crack Pallet two-year-old of last year. Nebraska, is not in the Kentucky Derby. He belongs to Colonel Parr and J. S. Cosdcn of Paltimore. the latter a successful young speculator in Oklahoma oil, and he is pointing for the Preakness at Pimlico. It is no cinch that lie will not win the Preakness. either. The least, known of the really dangerous eastern Derby candidates to the country at large is Skeptic. which, according to n-port. worked a mile and an eighth at Lexington the other day in 1:." 2. Sleptic-is a son of Sain — Inspiration, she a daughter of Ayrshire — Sister Mary. He- was bred by H. 11. Hewitt, whose silks he will l car at Churchill Downs. He is a dark bay or brown colt of prc-ixissessing appearance, a trifle leggy, maylie, but strong as to his shoulders and quarters and admirably coupled. Goldsborough developed him last year by the side of Ticket and gave him a special preparation for the Futurity, just before the running of which he scored handsomely in a maiden race. Like Rickety, he had some bad luck at the start of the Futurity, but ran a good race, nevertheless and brought up third. Skeptic has matured satisfactorily and. as long ago as last January. the exi erts at Gravesend, who remembered his steady development as a two-year-old. picked him as a formidable Derby proposition. If Skeptic should happen to get home in front at Churchill Downs next Saturday, many a handbook in New York, Brooklyn. Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington will suffer. Macomber Hopes in His Imported Colts. Mr. Macomber probably must win with one of his importations— War Star or North Star III. — if he is to win at all, unless eastern judgement is all wrong. His American-bred candidates Star Master and Stargazer, hardly measure up to the Derby standard. Of Macombors imported colts it is impossible for an American critic to speak with authority. But there are, among the trainers who wintered strings at Charleston, some who prefer War Star to the winner of the Middle Park Plate. By far the most promising of the imported candidates, of which Americans may speak with assurance, is Omar Khayyam. This handsome son of Marco was the only one of the yearlings C. K. G. Killings and Frederick Johnson brought over from Great Pritain in the autumn of 1913, that showed anything at all last year. Omar Khayyams highly-bred British stablemates were laid up the better paH of the year with bucked shins. But even Omar failed to hold his own with his American bred juvenile rivals. For. after Hwfa had taken his measure in the Piping Pock Invitation Handicap, a race for which Charles Patterson gave him a painstaking preparation, he thai defeated— at a difference of twenty pounds in his favor--by Campfire in the Hopeful. Put Omar Khayyam displayed in all of his eastern races a liking for a considerable distance Oi! ground, and Patterson, a man of few illusions, is on record with the statement that he is of Derby stature. And it must lie remembered in his favor that he has had a methodical preparation. perhaps a more methodical preparation than any other horse that will line up at the barrier in the Kentucky Derby has undergone. Condition always counts hi such a rice. W. R. Cues English candidate. Jack Ml— t, which, after many failures through the summer, showed a bit of improvement at Pelmont Park in the autumn, like Omar Khayyam, was prepared at New Orleans during the winter. But his candidacy is not taken seriously hereabouts. Neither are the chances of John Maddens pair. Milkasaa and Defense and a dozen others. If any of these should happen to score the eastern fraternity will be forced to the conclusion, that the colts tin y have come to regard as racers of high quality, are not as good as they are supposed to be.
