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LORD DERBYS IMPRESSIONS Expresses Surprise Over Alertness of Horses at Start r Starting Machines Impossible in England 1ays Tod fsloan arid Danny jjlalicr Compliment LOUISVILLE Ky May 7 The Earl of Derby arrived at the course shortly before 1 oclock having come froni Lexington in Joseph E Wideners special car He was accompanied by Mrs AVidener Admiral Gary T Grayson Johnson N Camden and a dis ¬ tinguished party of breeders and turfmen turfmenOn On his arrival at the course the distin guished visitor was escorted to the club house where he was guest of honor at a luncheon given by Samuel A Culbertson president of Churchill Downs This luncheon was attended by one of the most notable gatherings of prominent men of racing and breeding ever brought together at any time timeAfter After his slight indisposition which had delayed his journey from Lexington to Louis ¬ ville Lord Derby seemed to have entirely recovered by taking the ordered rest and he appeared thoroughly fit for the part he wa j to play in the big day of racing racingImmediately Immediately after the running of the first race Lord Derby expressed a desire to meet the turf writers and he gave an interesting talk on his impressions He said that the race just completed was the first he had seen in this country and he was free to admit that the starting machine used would not do for the English turf because of the immense size of the fields And he said that while some horses were kicked while at the starting post the number was so small that it was not a matter to induce such a change He also expressed surprise at the alertness of the starters In that he said English racing was much different until we had sent over Tod Sloan who taught the English riders much in a change of seat and new alertness alertnessHe He paid a high tribute to Danny Maher the other American jockey who rede abroad for so long He said that in his opinion Danny Maher was one of the greatest riders he ever saw in the saddle Maher had ridden for him for a considerable time and he stood alone among the riders He said that the totalizator but recently introduced in Eng ¬ land would in his opinion be one of the greatest benefits of the sport sportHe He was enthusiastic over the wonderful grazing lands and paddocks he had seen at Elmendorf and the other breeding farms in Kentucky We have no such wonderful paddocks in our country lie continued but we send some fairly good horses to the races racesEntirely Entirely recovered from his indisposition the noted English sportsman was the picture of health and Admiral Grayson proudly an ¬ nounced that he had brought him to the post Much more was said by this foremost man of racing and breeding Among his compli ¬ ments to the American thoroughbreds he said that he regretted that he did not see Man o War during his short visit in Ken ¬ tucky but that he had seen a magnificent son of Man o War in Crusader CrusaderAs As he brought a delightful interview to an end he asked that the big race be pronounced Darby I understand he said that this hat and he held up his derby is also called derby I have nothing to do with the parent ¬ age of this hat you may call it derby but call the race Darby DarbyIn In our country this hat is a billycock It goes away back to 1700 when some big farmer wore such a hat His name was Billy Cooke and as we dont always pro ¬ nounce words as they are spelled it became billycock after the man who first appeared wearing one oneIt It was generally agreed that hereafter in this country as in England it will never again be the Kentucky Derby as spelled but the Kentucky Darby as It is not spelled
