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Here and There Thereon on the Turf William Woodwards Gallant Fox has firmly established himself as a colt worthy to have his name inscribed among the equine heroes of the American turf His crowning triumph in the running of the Kentucky Derby Saturday at Churchill Downs left no vestige of doubt of his high quality It is always possible for much to happsn between May and November but the son of Sir Galla had III and the Celt mare Marguerite has done all that has been asked so magnificently that it seems fairly safe to forecast that should he remain in training he will either be the champion threeyearold of the year or the runnerup for the honors honorsIn In the running of the Wood Memorial this colt proved himself to the satisfaction of many He came to real greatness in the Preakness at Pimlico by reason of the many difficulties he had to overcome in that mile and threesixteenths race while in the Ken ¬ tucky Derby he easily defeated the best that could be mustered against him in the Middle West WestGallant Gallant Fox like many another good one before him is anything but a sensational work horse Seldom will he give up his best in the morning and frequently his trials create an altogether false impression of his quality It was so in his final for the Preak ¬ ness and it was so in his final for the Ken ¬ tucky Derby On both of these occasions many good judges were bitterly disappointed at the showing of the colt But he is a different horse with the colors up and in the thick of the battle battleJames James Fitzsimmons has used rare skill in his conditioning of Gallant Fox with the re ¬ sult that at this time after the three notable victories he holds his form magnificently That is reason enough for the belief that lie will still be on edge for the Belmont Stakes And in passing it is well to give Earl Sande a share in the plaudits earned by the colt Sande has been in the saddle in all three of Gallant Foxs winning races and on each occasion there has been a demand on his riding skill Gallant Fox has enabled Sande to make a real comeback and Sande has helped materially in making the son of Sir Gallahad III the leading threeyearold of 1930 Any race that has public appeal enough to bring out such a crowd as annually swarms over Churchill Downs as in the case in the running of the Kentucky Derby cannot fail to do tremendously big things for racing The big thing is that it brings out those who would not otherwise be present And it is a crowd that is brought out for the sport only rather than for the thrill that may come with wagering on the races racesBetting Betting of some character is absolutely es ¬ sential for the success of racing but when such sport is staged that the betting is only an incident it is real sport Thousands in that great Derby crowd every year make no wager on the outcome or on the outcome of any race They are there to see the great threeyearolds in action and they have their thrill in seeing them battle for the big prize prizeTo To them it is a memory they will pass along to their children and to miss a run ¬ ning of the Kentucky Derby is always a cause for regret It is a proud boast to tell of this or that Kentucky Derby running from an actual acquaintance with the renewal It has always been so since the first running away back in 1S75 and it is a mark of turf distinction to be able to go on back through the history of the great prize and give per ¬ sonal reminiscenses of the race raceThe The American turf is blessed with many races of Wonderful importance Each has its appeal arid some of them boast of a more notable list of horses in the roster of win ¬ ners but thus far at least there is no race of all tlie year so steeped in sentiment and no race with the same widespread appeal as the Kentucky Derby DerbySentiment Sentiment in racing is of tremendous im ¬ portance as in fact it is in any sport and that is just where the Kentuclcy Derby means more than possibly any other American classic classicIt It was a calamity that Gifford A Coch rans good threeyearold Flying Heels was seriously injured while at the post for the running of the Toboggan Handicap the open ¬ ing day of the present Belmont Park meet ¬ ing Henry McDaniel had brought the son of Flying Ebony up to the running mag ¬ nificently and the loss of the colt at this time is a serious matter with so many big en ¬ gagements close at hand Possibly the injury will respond to treat ¬ ment promptly but any interruption in train ¬ ing at this time is of serious moment Fly ¬ ing Heels went into winter quarters a par ticulaily brilliant threeyearold prospect and it is certainly real misfortune to have him injured so early in his threeyearold ca ¬ reer reerIt It is just one more of the various argu ¬ ments in favor of the stall starting gates and the protection that is afforded horses while at the starting post Hardly a day goes by with the old barrier that some horse is not hurt in some fashion by reason of the inevitable crowding jostling and kick ¬ ing of the horses Many of them are of such little account that little is thought of the injuries inflicted but the good ones are just as liable to be hurt as the bad ones but when it is a good one the argument naturally has a greater weight weightOf Of course it could be pointed out that horses have also been hurt with the stalls in use but the fact always remains that stalls are a protection against being kicked and for that reason alone they are to be desired over the older barrier without the protection of the stalls It is not expected that stall gates will come into use on the courses of The Jockey Club this year and it may be the part of wisdom to delay the in ¬ troduction of such a machine until one that meets every requirement is discovered but it is inevitable that in the progress of the turf there must eventually come starting stalls to the New York courses
