view raw text
DOWNFALL OF LEONARDO II Derby Favorite Runs Unplaced in the Blue Grass Stakes Black Servant the Victor with withHis His Stablemate Behave Your ¬ self a Good Second LEXINGTON Ky April 30 Leonardo II which raced in such brilliant fashion on his initial ap ¬ pearance here and was held in high esteem to be a dangerous factor in the Derby decision at Churchill Downs a week hence registered the first defeat of his career this afternoon when he failed ignomini ously in the Blue Grass Stakes for threeyearold at a mile and an eighth and serving as a trial race for the Derby The undoing of Leonardo II brought attention to E R Bradleys Black Servant which now deservedly displaces Leonardo II in popular favor at least locally as deserving to be regarded as the mainstay of the Kentuckians to stave off a possible victory of the great array of the eastern stars that will strive to carry off the laurels Barring track conditions which probably militated against Leonardo II but according to the Bradley connections equally as much against Black Senant there was nothing flukey in the success of the son of Black Toney Padula He outran Leonardo II from the rise of the barrier and maintaining a fast pace subjected Leonardo II to such strain that the Xalapa Farm representa ¬ tive begaiuyiwervlng out and soon after covering twothlrdsbfthe mile and an eighth to give way steadily and in the stretch to swerve alarmingly Black Servant continued on steadily but his test of gameness came in the stretch when Behave Yourself his stable companion began a stubborn challenge For a sixteenth the pair fought it out hard and it appeared that Behave Yourself bene ¬ fited considerably by having been saved in the early running would triumph but Black Servant with bulldog tenacity held to his task and ulti ¬ mately passed the finish a full length in advance Behave Yourself tired somewhat near the end and had to be ridden to his limit to outstay Uncle Velo for second place Leonardo II came to the finish limp and tired tiredMuskallonge Muskallonge ran a good threequarters before he fell back but it seems unlikely that lie will be a dangerous Derby horse The net value of the Blue Grass Stakes to the winner was 3170 Black Servants win was exclusively a local one for the colt was bred at Idle Hour Farm situated virtually in this city and his owner resides here Jockey Harrett who rode Black Servant is also a product of this locality localityRECORD RECORD CROWD SEES RACING RACINGThe The record crowd that has witnessed racing here was on hand to view the Blue Grass Stakes race and accompanying features This too despite the unseasonable weather that ruled before post time for the initial race The weather moderated con ¬ siderably afterwards and the threatening clouds disappeared The track likewise showed steady improvement and in the mile and an eighth handi ¬ cap preceding the Blue Grass Stakes General Haig covered a mile in a shade less than 140 140Backers Backers of favorites continued their losing streak for choices were bowled over steadily and con ¬ sistently Their failures began to register with the opening dash when Jack Hare Jr an overwhelming favorite succumbed in the last stride to Marvin May MayTom Tom Norris was another oddson favorite to fail badly His downfall followed tliat of Commander McMeekiu favorite in the second race Jarvis gave Tom Norris a faulty ride but the horse does not amount to much at best bestEthel Ethel Gray was another disappointment but she was beaten by General Haig which racing iiu his best form scored impressively impressivelyLeonardo Leonardo II s downfall was the hardest jolt that the backers received during the afternoon and it left them in a position to support Meliora only lukewarmly lukewarmlyThe The concluding race brought a thrill to the vast crowd by the sensational rush shown by Newel W which got up in the last stride to overtake Bond with pairJack Tugs only a half length in back of the pair Jack Hare Jr will not race in W E Apple gates colors in the future having been claimed from the opener by T W Boots for 4000 4000Jockey Jockey J Rodriguez who is engaged to ride Pluribus in the Kentucky Derby was an arrival this morning from Mrayland believing that the colt would be a starter in the Blue Grass Stakes The jockey will stay in Kentucky until the run ¬ ning of the Derby DerbyGeneral General Manager Matt J Winn departs tonight for Latonia where lie will remain several days noting progress of the many improvements there
