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DERBY THE PRINCIPAL TOPIC Turf Followers at Hot Springs Discuss Merits of Candidates Eternal and Billy Kelly Central CentralFigures Figures in HorsetoHorse HorsetoHorseArguments Arguments JIOT SPRINGS Ark March 27 Wherever turf ¬ men gather at night here the Kentucky Derby which will be run on next May 10 is the chief topic of discussion and many an argument as to the merits of this or that horse has wound up in a wager being made horse against horse some of them of no small size Most of them have Eternal and Billy Kelly as the central figures in the horse against horse wager and a majority of the western backers have taken the Eternal side of it itThis This is due to the fact that the crack son of Svteep Hazel Burke is stabled at Oaklawn Park and the racing people have had numerous oppor ¬ tunities to observe him in action this spring while few reports have emanated from Billy Kellys vamp as to his condition Many of the easterners are backing the son of Dick Welles Glena how ¬ ever on the strength of H G Bedwells reputa ¬ tion as a trainer as they know he will have Billy Kelly in the Iwst possible condition on Derby day and if Eternal beats him it Avill be because he is the better horse horseOwner Owner T W McClelland and trainer Kim Pat ¬ terson have Eternal right where they want him as far as condition is concerned They have tried him highly to ascertain if lie still has the dazzling sneed which enabled him to win six races and r 117 in money in 1918 and n workout of three iiuarters in 114 eased up convinced them that lie has Tuesday morning he figured in another sensational twining gallop when he covered five Mghtlis in 100 running the quarter in 22 and the half in 4C Critics who contend that such fast workouts are being indulged in too early in the season and too far from Derby day seem to forget the way that the late Charley Patterson sent Omar Khay ¬ yam along the year he won the Derby Omar Khayyam wintered at New Orleans where he was not ble to get out nearly as often as Eternal has here but along a out this time of the year when lie was here he worked a mile in 141 one morn ¬ ing and it never bothered him in the least Not only that but after his fast trial Patterson kept hint hard at it and his victory in the big event proved that be must have been trained correctly correctlyAt At any rate it was McClelland and Patterson who handled Eternal last year and made him the success that he was and they know his traits and capabilities if anyone does He is not a hard horse to train ride or work and he is a thoroughbred built along lines that will enable him to stand the toughest kind of training There is hardly any doubt as to his ability to go a long route and this score is not worrying his owner or trainer in the least leastDARK DARK HORSE MAY BE UNCOVERED UNCOVEREDEach Each day or so sees another Derby candidate or two under silks here and while naturally many of thcni will not go to the post a dark horse or two may be uncovered Owners do not nominate their thoroughbreds to such a race as the Kentucky Derbv unless they have shown them something that voulil warrant it and a few trials here will show whether their horses are of Derby caliber or not notInquestionably Inquestionably Mormon which will carry the colors of Willis Sharpe Kilmer and American Ace owned and bred by Edward Cebriau and trained by John Lowe are the best shown in races here to date this spring Both won at the first asking and both ran the same kind of races coming from far back to win winAmerican American Ace had the better record of the two last year although each horse only won one race The Cebrian colt started six times and in addi ¬ tion to his victorv he was second three times and third twice never running unplaced His total stable earnings were 15 50 Mormon started fifteen times won once was second twice third twice and unplaced ten times He took down 1500 in purse money moneyHenry Henry McDaniel who is training Mormon believes in racing his horses and he will have the son of Ogden Kose of Gold in the best of condition for the Derby He expects to start him several more limes here before sending him to the Blue Grass State American Ace likewise will be seen In iction here a few more times and he is sure to improve with every race raceUNDER UNDER FIRE A SURE STARTER STARTERAfter After his strenuous winter at New Orleans Pat Dunne let up on Under Fire his Derby eligible for a while but now lie has him back in hard training and he is doing fine The son of Swynford Startling started out this year like he was going lo be a worldbeater but late in the winter he showed signs of having had too much racing Dunne was quick to note this and immediately gave him a rest which seems to have benefited him considerably Regardless of what elese starts in the Derby Dunne says that he is going to send his colt after the big prize if he continues to train on well A mile in 145 without being urged was his most recent work but this was only an easy gal ¬ lop and he will soon I showing his real worth worthK K W Moore Nashville Tenn turfman has Ed Stone which won his first race yesterday in the Derby This colt is a son of Assagai Bettie Sue the hitter a mare which Moore raced with much success several years ago He started twice last year finishing unplaced both times but Moore bad little chance to do anything with him as he was on the ailing list most of the time This win ¬ ter he was slow in coming to hand but he was not rushed by his owner and upon the occasion of his first start here several days ago he showed that he was rounding into winning form His easy victory ritently proved that such was the case AVhcn asked if he thought Ed Stone was of Derby caliber Moore said he was going to bend every ffort to find out if he is and he cannot lose any ¬ thing by trying him highly highlyYou You can never tell about a horse like Ed Stone said Moore as he has not had a real hiiiice to show his worth I thought he was a liishclass twoyearold until he went amiss and I am still confident that he will turn out to be a xood threeyearold I do not let fast workouts f horses scare me out of a race if I think my horse is good enough to have a chance in jt and you can bet if Ed Stone shows me enough ability to aive him a lookin in the Kentucky Derby be will BO in it
