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■ ■ — - Short Sketches on Derby Candidates Performances at Two and Up To Date This Season Related Most Prominent Members Of Three-Year-Old Division Vie for Gold and Glory LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 1. — Short sketches on candidates for tomorrows sixty-eighth running of the Kentucky Derby follow: GREENTREE STABLE ENTRY— Devil Diver is best recommended in the records of Mrs. Payne Whitneys homebreds, as well as being jockeyed by Eddie Arcaro and his preference of the mounts. In 13 starts. Devil Diver has never been unplaced, winning four of a dozen essays in 41 and his lone appearance this spring. At two he placed the important Hopeful to his credit and was defeated in a photofinish with Some Chance for the Belmont Futurity. His other stakes conquests were in the Sanford and the Breeders Futurity. Devil Diver has earned 7,984. His sire, St. Germans, already is responsible for two Kentucky Derby winners in Twenty Grand former stake record holder and Bold Venture. • Previous to the Hopeful, in which he narrowly escaped being cut down, Shut Out was more highly regarded by trainer Gaver and jockey Arcaro than was Devil Diver. He never recovered his best form at two following his misadventure in the Hopeful, nevertheless managed to finish second in that stake as well as in the Saratoga Special. Earlier, he won the Grand Union in his lone juvenile stakes victory. This spring, Shut Out was second to Valdina Alpha in a prep race at Keene-land, then easily encompassed the defeat of Bless Me in the Blue Grass Stakes. Shut Out is by the ill-fated Equipoise from the stake mare. Goose Egg, and has earned 7,452. Wayne Wright has the mount. REQUESTED — One of the most popular of the Derby hopefuls progressed in his "Alger-Boy" career from a ,200 yearling into one of the best two-year-olds of New York competition in 1941 and the most accomplished of the three-year-olds thus far in the young season. A smallish, sickle -hocked son of Mrs. Payne Whitneys stallion, Questionnaire, Requested now looms as perhaps the stoutest of the rivals for the Greentrees own Derbyites. He won nine races, finishing unplaced but twice in 16 starts at two, winning the Youthful, Tremont, Great American, East View, Wakefield, Babylon Handicap and Cowdin Stakes. He was second in the U. S. Hotel Stakes, Grand Union and Champagne Stakes. Emerging at Hialeah as a three-year-old, the Whitaker Texas-owned bargain won the Flamingo after being virtually left in a ragged start and then led throughout the more recent 5,000 Wood Memorial. Sandwiched between those triumphs was a not too flattering third in the Chesapeake. Requested has placed 02,-800 to his credit and will be ridden by Leon "Buddy" Haas. VALDINA FARMS ENTRY— Valdina Orphans record is a "model of consistency." Ke was unplaced but twice in 13 chances at two, and this year revealed improvement to win three of four starts, Sabaths colt broke an assortment of track records and won the Joliet, Primer, Mayflower, Hyde Park, Washington Park Juvenile, Washington Park Futurity, Prairie State, Eastern Shore, a match with Requested, the Champagne, Spalding Lowe Jenkins and Walden. In the Champagne,! he set a worlds record for two-year-olds when he ran a mile in 1:35%, and in his match with Requested set a new Belmont six and a half furlong mark of 1:16 flat. But it was a case of "up like a rocket, down like a stick" with Alsab. Hailed as a minor Man o War, the son of the obscure Good Goods failed in the Flamingo, Widener, Chesapeake and Derby Trial, though finishing creditably near the winners of each. He was third in the Flamingo, second in the Chesapeake and then third in the Derby Trial. Is nursing a cut ankle. Alsab has amassed the considerable sum of 15,900. He will be ridden by Basil James. WITH REGARDS— Is the "early speed" of the Derby field. An 00 bargain for the veteran horseman, Pinky Grimes, With Regards has won seven of ten starts, but finds himself in the position of having yet to prove he holds sufficient class, never having beaten a top flighter. The son of Jack High first attracted attention when winning the Arkansas Derby, in which he set a new mile and a furlong track mark of 1:50. He came to Louisville to beat a lot of nonentities in the excellent time of 1:116 in his one local appearance. John Longden will handle him in the Derby. With Regards has earned 0,080. DOGPATCH— The Milky Way colt, a brother of the distinguished Bull Lea, , ! once finishing second. Last summer, Valdina Orphan seemed destined to eternally and futilely chase Alsab in midwestern stakes, while failing to distinguish himself as a stakes winner. However, he won a moderate sprint at the Fair Grounds in the winter, supplementing that tally with another in a Keeneland sprint and then, in Derby week, putting in his most conspicuous effort to date in pegging back Sun Again, Alsab, his stablemate, Hollywood, and others for the Derby Trial. Valdina Orphan, a son of the well-bred if obscure Hilltown, has earned 2,630. Carroll Bier-man, who won a rather surprising Derby on Gallahadion, rides Valdina Orphan. Hollywood, Valdina Orphans stablemate, is a lightly-raced but promising son of the virtually unknown Fairford. He started once at two, winning an allowance test, then won at Fair Grounds and Keeneland this year, in his latest essay, finishing fourth in the Derby Trial, which also marked his fourth start. The veteran George Woolf has the mount. Hollywood has earned a modest ,733. APACHE— Jockey Club chairman William Woodwards dusky colt was overshadowed by Requested, who repeatedly beat him in stretch battles at two, and again succumbed to the stubbornness of the latter gamecock in their Wood duel, for which Apache was the favorite. Nevertheless, the loyal Fitzsimmons Rooting and Chowder Club still insists he holds a royal chance of finally turning the tables in the 5,000 Derby. Apache won only one stake, the Remsen, in a busy juvenile campaign of 12 appearances. He also was second in the Cowdin and Wakefield, third in the Babylon. Previous to the Wood, Apache this spring won the Experimental Handicap, and then bettered the Wood time in the High Quest, his prep for the latter stake. He is a rather mercurial son of Alcazar, a rejected sire whos "in the Army now." Apache has won 3,675 and will be ridden in the Derby by the familiar Jimmy Stout, who piloted Johnstown to victory in an earlier renewal. SUN AGAIN— Warren Wrights and Ben Jones hope for a repetition of Whirlaways 1941 Derby accounting, won a roughly-run Juvenile Stakes and the Arlington Futurity in his brief, but brilliant, two-year-old campaign, one that was foreshortened by a mishap to one knee. Misfortune again beset him in the winter, when he developed a splint that interfered with his Derby prep. He was third to Devil Diver and Whirlaway in a Keeneland sprint, then beat Harvard Square in another. Harvard Square promptly reversed the result, however, in a later Keeneland encounter. Coming to Louisville, Sun Again earned a place in the Derby field when finishing a bang-up second to Valdina Orphan in the Derby Trial, in which he was obviously short. Sun Again has earned 7,530 in five successes from 11 starts, and will be piloted by the familiar Wendell Eads. ALSAB — Is the unknown quantity in calculations. An outstanding two-year-old who progressed meteorically from a 00 Continued on Page Forty-Seven. j i i | ; . I ] l " J * J i J J , Short Sketches On Derby Hopes Their Performances at Two and Up to Date This Season Related Continued from Page Three yearling to a 00,000 winner, Mrs. Al turned easily the best performance of his subtlety-spotted career when he won a division of the Belmont Futurity Trial last autumn, beating Contradiction. In the three Keeneland starts this spring, Dog-patch has failed utterly to enhance his stature among Derby colts, nevertheless, he works encouragingly. He has won ,833 and will be ridden in the Derby by Jack Skelly. FIRST FIDDLE— Claimed by Mrs. Edward Mulrenan, of Jamaica, from the fashionable C. V. Whitney string last summer at Aqueduct for ,500. First Fiddle has developed into a "dangerous outsider" in competition against the top colts. After a more or less indifferent two-year-old campaign, First Fiddle showed a smart effort this spring to be runner-up to Apache in the latters Wood prep race and then finished a very fast fourth in the Wood itself, engendering a notion he will fancy the Derby route. First Fiddle is by Royal Minstrel and one of his grand dams was Regret, the only filly winner of the Derby. First Fiddle has won ,505 in 26 starts. Conn McCreary rides him in the Derb„ . FAIR CALL — Set a mile and 70 yards track mark in winning the Ardsley Handi- | cap at Empire last October, being timed in 1:41%, then journeyed to Pimlico to give Alsab a stubborn battle in the memorable Walden, in which he finished a tired third, however. In his races this spring, Fair Call has displayed a curious climbing action. However, trainer Fletcher anticipates improvement in the Derby. Fan-Call has earned 1,755 and Lindberg has been engaged for him as yet. SWEEP SWINGER— A Greentree cast-off; has started 29 times in a busy career at two and three. His lone stakes victory came in the Endurance last fall at Bowie, after most of the top colts had concluded their juvenile campaigns. By Questionnaire, sire of Requested, Sweep Swinger invariably shows to best advantage in distance events in which the early pace is fast. He has won 2,580 and Al Shel-hamer is due to have the mount in the Derby. SIR WAR — Is another with only moderately good form to recommend him. The Circle M Ranchs colt, a son of the famed Sir Gallahad HI., has failed to win a single stake. In his latest endeavor, he just got home in a photo finish for a Keeneland allowance event. Sir War has earned a total of ,535 and will be ridden by Johnny Adams. BOOT AND SPUR— Like several others of the less obtrusive entrants, Boot and Spur will start in the Derby, to fly the stable colors and in the hope some rather miraculous metamorphosis will permit him to dust off this classiest of three-year-old fields. A son of Blue Larkspur, he has accounted for five of 20 starts, in company making no great demands on him, earning 1 ,285. Arthur Craig will ride the E. C. I A. Berger colt. 1 FIRST PRIZE— This fashionably -bred I son of Bull Dog ran just three times in a I slowly expanding career, at two last year, fj He won the last of these in a six-furlong 8 allowance test last April at Keeneland. His I Derby status depends upon how he im- 1 pressed E. B. Johnston and trainer Wallace a in the Bloomfield on Thursday at the I Downs. G. Wallace will ride him if hes a E Derby starter. | FAIRY MANAH— Is a colt with a private | reputation that far surprasses anything he I has revealed in public. A son of Man o I War and half brother of Fairy Chant, Fairy Manah has run just three times, failing in his only juvenile engagement at the Spa last summer, then winning a sprint at Havres recent meeting in maiden company. Trainer Dick Handlen, nevertheless, concedes Willie duPonts homebred a good outside chance. He has earned an insignificant 50 and will be ridden by John Gilbert.
