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i 4 $ This, That and the Other Thing About the Derby I $ Last years winning jockey, "Chick" Lang, | ! is far from the scene of his greatest triumph. : j He is in England to ride Reigh Count in races which may yet prove that a Kentucky I Derby winner can really be an international ; champion. The Derby has been won in late years by colts ridden by seasoned, if not veteran, jockeys. Although this is true, it is a fact also that the winning riders of the last seven years still are more or less active in their profession. Tv.o, Albert Johnson and Earl Sande, announced some time ago that they had retired as jockeys and would devote their | time to training, but both have since renounced their decisions. These two riders, by the way, have won the Derby four times out i of the last seven. Johnson rode Morvich and Bubbling Over. Sande rode Zev and Flying Ebony. Earl Sande did not have a mount in last years Derby, though he was riding at the time. Albert Johnson, the other two-time winner of the Derby in recent years, was up on Petee-Wrack, which was never a factor in the race. There have been two jockeys who rode two winners of the Derby consecutively : Murphy on Riley and Kingman in 1890 and 1891, and Winkfield on His Eminence and Alan-a-Dale in 1901 and 1902. Such a repetition cannot happen this year, as "Chick" Lang is among : those absent Since the institution of "Winter Derbys" only one has provided a Kentucky Derby winner. This was Black Gold, which won | the Louisiana Derby. Black Gold also won j the Ohio State Derby and was third in the | Latonia Derby. Black Golds victory in 1924 was one of ! exceptions. One particular in which it was ! exceptional was that he was the only winner j in recent years representing a small stable. ] j Rich stables have had the Derby pretty : much to themselves in modern times. Although j Flying Ebony, the winner in 1925, was j I an "outsider" and a "field horse," he wore . the colors of Gifford A Cochran, one of the j wealthy owners of the East. In the last I I eight years the race has been won by E. R. Bradley twice ; Rancocas Stable, Benjamin Block, Mrs. R. M. Hoots, G. A. Cochran, H. P. Whitney and Mrs. John D. Hertz. Benjamin Block, whose great Morvich won the Derby in 1922, nominated one son of Morvich to this years renewal. The colt is Morsun. The question "which is the best colt of modern times that won the Derby?" has probably started more fruitless arguments than any other subject of contention that has ever come up concerning the big race. These arguments bring into discussion the names of Old Rosebud, Omar Khayyam, Exterminator, Sir Barton, Morvich, Zev, Bubbling Over, Reigh Count. One condition which serves to restrict the argument to winners since 1920, eliminating the first four names above, is that it was not until this year that the Derby weight was arbitrarily set at 126 pounds for colts and geldings and 121 for fillies. Previous winners carried less weight. Sir Bartin had up only 112% pounds. No filly has been a contender in the Derby under the present weight scale since Prudery finished third in 1921. When Regret won in 1915 she carried 115 pounds. Fillies that enter now have to carry 121. The last filly to start in the race was Startle, in 1922. Beacon Hill, one of the original nominations of H. P. Whitney, graduated only two weeks ago. He is a son of Broomstick and a full brother to Bostonian, which won the Preakness two years ago and then ran coupled with Whiskery when that colt won the Derby in 1927. The Nut was nominated by H. P. Whitney, but if he goes will run in the Derby in the colors of the Warm Stable, having been sold to that new racing combination. If McGonigle, an extreme outsider, should win the Derby, it would be a very popular victory in Kentucky, as he belonged to C. H. "Pat" Knebelkamp before being sold to Stuyvesant Peabody a few days before the race. McGonigle will be ridden by "Lightning" Jones, who had a very successful winter season. The most prominent southerner in the field is Minotaur, which belonged to Charles Graf-fagnini, of New Orleans. Minotaurs stock has risen considerably the last two weeks, due to successes in the East. His owner, who got him last year at a very modest consideration, sold him to John R. Thompson, Jr., a few hours before he finished second in the Preakness. Current, one of the most prominent fillies nominated, won the Breeders Futurity of 1928. She is owned by R. S. Clark. Mack Garner, who rides Blue Larkspur, is the veteran of the riding Garners. He has ridden in many Derbys without success. His mounts in recent years were Kiev, Rhi-nock, Kentucky Cardinal, King Gorin II. and Nassau. In 1919 he rode Under Fire third , in the classic.
