view raw text
9 CHANCE SUN IN GOOD WORK Derby Favorite in the Spotlight- by Sparkling Mile Trial Monday. GaUops Distance in 1:44 Over Track Almost Fast Bluebeard, Another Eligible for Classic, Shows Up Well. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 15. Coming back with but one days rest since his three-quarters work on a heavy, holding track Saturday morning, Chance Sun, Joseph E. Wid-eners robust son of Chance Shot and Sun-aibi, today more squarely placed himself in the spotlight as a favorite for the sixty-first Kentucky Derby with, a sparkling mile trial at Churchill Downs. It was a surprise move on the part of trainer Pete Coyne, veteran chief of the Widener training staff, and when the Futurity winner responded with seven-eighths in 1:28 and eased up the mile in 1:44, Coynes judgment went unquestioned. For the first time in weeks the course over which the Derby will be run just two weeks from next Saturday was fast or nearly so, but weather conditions, despite a bright sun, were not of the best. A cold, northwest wind, which at times reached near-gale velocity, swept the course during the morning training hours. Horses faced the high wind in the main stretch, and as Coyne worked Chance Sun from the "stand" the colt had the stiff breeze to combat when his energy or strength was at lowest ebb. Silversmith, a three-year-old son of Sickle likely, to prove something of a. racer in his own right, again paced, or rather accom1-panied his more renowned stable companion as they were on even terms throughout; Strongly restrained and moving against the wind for an eighth or, more, they ambled over the first quarter mile in :24. Then, with the wind behind them, a third furlong was added in :36. Still "riding" on the northwest breeze and with the holds of their riders unchanged, they passed the half-mile marker in :48t while five furlongs, timed in 1:01, were covered before they completed enough of the half circle "upper turn" for the strong, biting wind to again become a handicap. Moving on with long, unwavering strides, they left three-quarters behind them in 1:14. So strong was the wind in the stretch that it caused both horses to veer from straight Continued on twentieth page. CHANCE SUN IN GOOD WORK .Continued from first page. courses, yet they continued with fine speed to complete seven furlongs in 1:28 before trainer Coyne could signal the pilots of the two three-year-olds to slow them down. As a result of Coynes executed instructions, neither horse expended much effort thereafter. Long after the Widener hopeful had worked, Jouett Shouses Weston, a "dark horse" for the prize race, appeared on the scene and splendidly acquitted himself in a test of his speed that saw him over five furlongs in 1:01. He clicked off the quarter in :23 and the half mile in :48. As per custom, he had the fouiyear-old Clark Handicap candidate, Fiji, owned by the Young Brothers, as a work mate. Direct Hit, reserve candidate or understudy of Shoeless Joe in Conn Smythes stable, showed a readiness for the more important part of his Derby preparation by working six furlongs easily in 1:16. He went the initial quarter in :24 and the half mile in :50. With Shoeless. Joe, unquestionably one of the best lookers among the western-trained candidates, and four other of the Smythe horses, Direct Hit reached the Downs from Lexington late Sunday afternoon. Others in the string are Dedication, Mine Boy, Lady Marlboro and Exhibition. According to trainer Emerson Davis, Shoeless Joe is just as much advanced as Direct Hit and the former son of Black Servant and Bare Foot is scheduled to have his first Downs trial tomorrow. Hank MacTavish, owned by H. E. Scheur-mann and the late W. F. Axton was the only other Derby nominee to work this morning. In racing trim after a winters campaigning at Miami, he was stoutly restrained to do five furlongs in ,1:06, the half mile in :53. For speed, Likewise, and Otherwise, two well known campaigners in the William E. Smith stable carried off honors for the day. The latter traversed five furlongs under pressure in 1:00, while the former turned a like distance in 1:00, handily. The division of the William R. Coe stable trained by Clyde Phillips, left this morning for Belmont Park. Phillips shipped only twelve, Primute and Georgeous Hussy being turned over to Harry Saladin, who will race them here. Harry Richards, the stable rider, left by motor for the New York metropolis. Bluebeard, son of Blue Larkspur, which Mrs. R. B. Fairbanks of Indianapolis purchased from William R. Coe of New York a week ago, and chief reliance of the Hoosier state for the coming Derby, was the only candidate to work here Sunday. His assignment, as decided by trainer Arthur Goldblatt, was a brisk seven-eighths, and he came through impressively, traveling the distance over a slow track and without utmost effort in 1:31. He was accompanied by Chance Flight, another of the Fairbanks performers, and cantered out an additional furlong to return to the seven-eighths post on the main course, and which, of course, was the starting point, in 1:46. After a mile gallop at a very slow pace, yet fast enough to loosen, or limber their muscles, Bluebeard and his work mate were brought to a halt long enough for one of Goldblatts assistants to apply blinkers to the Derby hope. On even terms as they were throughout the test, they ran the first quarter in :24, and little did their speed diminish during the next two furlongs, as the half mile was completed in :48. As the termination of five-eighths neared, their riders were waved down by Goldblatt, but despite stronger restraint they accomplished the outstanding speed test of the morning. Time for the three-quarters was 1:16, the nearest approach to it being Vitamin B.s move in 1:17, in preparation for the Clark Handicap on the opening day of the Downs meeting. It was a sparkling work under prevailing track conditions, and the dogged manner in which Chance Flight, a second-class performer, refused to be outdone by his more renowned and heralded companion, left no doubt that the less fashionable racer is in top trim. A great crowd of track inspectors, work-watchers and curious, probably the largest morning turnout in the history out of the famous course, thronged the track as the Fairbanks horse went through what was his first serious workout since he entered the Fairbanks stable. The crowd along the back stretch was so dense that Goldblatt had to ask a score or more persons to step back from the inside rail while his charges .dliHedi While sunny skies, the first in many days, had a great deal to do with the record outpouring, the morning throng left no doubt that interest in the coming Derby far exceeds that in any previous running of the sixty-year-old race. At one time during the early morning automobiles and trackside visitors in the vicinity of one of the gates leading from the stable enclosure to the track so clogged the passageway that approach to the .testing ground with horses was impossible. Track superintendent Thomas Young estimated the throng of visitors as the largest in his memory and he has been connected with Churchill Downs for many years. Following a short rest at French Lick Springs, Col. M. J. Winn, executive director of the Downs, is back at his desk at the track. Colonel Winn closely watches every detail in connection with the Derby and its staging, and he will put in long hours from now until the race has been run. During a discussion of prospects for a record attendance Derby Day, Colonel Winn said, "As we have announced, all boxes and reserved seats for the day have been sold and as this is without precedent, we are preparing to handle an overflow crowd. Available boxes this year number almost 200 more than ever before and I venture we could have disposed of close to 1,000 more with the race still more than two weeks off."
