view raw text
MRS. PAYNE WHITNEY— Whose colors were flown to victory for the second time in the Kentucky Derby when Shut Out was returned victorious Saturday. Shut Out Beats Alsab to Earn Honors in Sixty-Eighth Derby Draws Away in Stretch to Win Richest Running of Great Race Least Regarded Member of Greentree Entry Wears Down Leaders When Called Upon to Prevail by Two and Quarter Lengths — Sabath Colt Head Before Valdina Orphan LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 2. — Shut Out gave an enormous and enormously-excited throng an unforgettable thrill at history-steeped Churchill Downs this glorious spring afternoon as he etched his name for all time on the Kentucky Derbys roll of honor. To the accompaniment of a thunderous acclaim, the less highly regarded half of Mrs. Payne Whitneys favored entry strode magnificently to the end of this memorable mile and a quarter with an ever-growing two and a quarter lengths margin over Mrs. Al Sabaths game-going Alsab. The 1941 juvenile champion, running a sparkling race himself, was second by a head before Valdina Farms Valdina Orphan, while a length and a half back the pace-setting With Regards was fourth for Pinky Grimes. The liver-colored son of the ill-fated Equipoise held the speed to force the pace, open up a hole for Devil Diver at the top of trie lane, while forcing Alsab wide, then came on himself to earn everlasting fame as he outfinished the field in 2:0425 on a dry racing strip. Shut Out, who had recently captured the Blue Grass Stakes, was winning the richest of all the sixty-eight Kentucky Derbys, adding 4,225 to earlier earnings. He was piloted by Wayne Wright, after Eddie Arcaro, the Greentree Stables contract booter, had rejected the mount on him to handle the more highly regarded Devil Diver. Similar to Aristides Triumph Shut Outs triumph was much like that of "The little red horse," Aristides, who was sent to the post for the Kentucky Derby to be sacrificed on the altar of pace-making as a running mate for a mighty stable companion, then saved the day himself when the favorite could not "come on." His final time, on a track equally as fast as that for Whirlaways Derby record performance, missed the 2:0125 mark by a considerable margin, but it was a fast race early, with the fractions :1225, :23%, :352/| , :472/5, 1:00, 1:12%. 1:39, 1:5045. This was the second Derby victory for Manhasset, L. I.s Mrs. Payne Whitney. "The first lady of the American Turf," she having captured that of 1931 with Twenty Grand, who like Shut Out is a homebred product of her Lexington Farm. It was the first Derby for Wayne Wright, however, and for trainer John Gaver, the 41 -year-old graduate of Princeton University, who joined the Whitney racing estab- Continued on Page Three tHHIv s - xi§j|l BBslla WAYNE D. WRIGHT— His masterful handling of Shut Out played no little part in the success of the Greentree colt in the Derby. Shut Out Wins Kentucky Derby From Alsab and Valdina Orphan With Regards Falters After 1 Setting Pace to Final Turn —Net to Winner 4,225 Continued from Page One lishment as agent in 1929. It also was the first Kentucky Derby for a son of mighty Equipoise, and it will be the last, for Shut Out is a member of his final crop of foals. The thousands of backers of Mrs. Whitneys entry were rewarded for their confidence at the moderate rate of .80 for . However, the vast majority of these, like jockey Arcaro, relied on Devil Diver. There was little apparent excuse for any of those finishing in Shut Outs wake, with Alsab the chief sufferer when he was forced wide by the winner entering the long, lung-searing final quarter. It was in this quarter mile, "the little piece of dirt where the race of life is run," that the real racing took place, with Shut Out shaking off the tenacious With Regards and Valdina Orphan, then finally pulling away from Alsab under vigorous urging. Colonel Winns presentation of the Red Cross check was attended by some ceremony, with Charles W. Allen, chairman of the Kentucky chapter of the Red Cross, accepting the donation. Following Shut Outs impressive triumph and, while he stood in the winners ring laden with roses, John Gaver accepted the gold cup symbolic of this achievement from the hands of Gov. Keene Johnson, of the Blue Grass State. Governor Johnson said; "With this cup go my personal congratulations and the sincere best wishes of all Kentuckians — Kentuckians who love all horses but who reserve their praise for such great racers as your champion of todays War-time Derby. And may I express, too, my appreciation on the part you have played in perpetuating the high traditions of our Kentucky Derby and of racing as a whole. Kentucky hails a new champion!" Many widely separated sections of America were represented prominently at the finish of this Derby. Shut Out is a New Yorker, Alsab represents Chicago, Valdina Orphan is Texas-owned and With Regards races for a Denver rancher. The parade to the post was accompanied by the "Star Spangled Banner and "My Old Kentucky Home." Frankly, most of the "Ohs" and Ahs" were for Devil Diver. The 15 starting, with the withdrawal of Sun Again and First Prize, were well behaved at the gate, excepting for Dogpatch, who bolted out of his stall at once. The break was one of the best in Derby runnings. Fairy Manah, With Regards, Apache, Devil Diver, Shut Out and Valdina Orphan were outrunning the others for the first several strides. Then Fairy Manah dropped back, while Stout took double wraps on the rank Apache and Arcaro moved to the rail behind With Regards and Valdina Orphan, obviously to save ground and "bide his time. Shut Out ran up to within a length of With Regards and Valdina Orphan going into the clubhouse turn, took aim outside them and began his mission of forcing their pace. The three spun through the far lane in that fashion, with Valdina Orphan and With Regards moving along together on the "Bill Daly." All this while, Alsab was making up ground steadily on the outside of the pack, and lengths back, Requested and Apache were far out of it. Turning for home, the race was on in earnest. Arcaro thrust through on the rail, with Shut Out opening up for him and taking Alsab out as the latter made his move with Devil Diver. At the "hot corner," it was Valdina Orphan, With Regards, Shut Out and Alsab almost as a four-horse team and Arcaro driving futilely to send Devil Diver to the top. Wright realized that Devil Diver could not make the grade, so he asked Shut Out for some more running and Shut Out came ■ through in the game fashion of his illustri- ous sire. No one could have cast aspersions on him, had this unsung member of the Greentree team failed as a result of his early efforts, but he is made of stern I stuff. Shut Out went at With Regards and Valdina Orphan with renewed vigor and had them gasping their lungs out at the eighth post. Then he met Alsabs steady drive on the extreme outside. Both he and Alsab were drifting out under the stress of | their efforts in the final furlong, but Shut I Out forged farther and farther ahead — I a daylight winner. Trainer Gaver will receive a traineric ! award of ,000 of the prize money, while j jockey Wright will receive presumably the customary 10 per cent. To Mrs. Payne I Whitney goes a breeders award of ,000. Bo the Kentucky Derby of 1942 passed into the records, a never-to-be-forgotten thrill for one of the largest of Derby j crowds. Typical Derby Day Scene The sun shone brightly on the home of j the Kentucky Derby as the colorful, gay throngs filled the picturesque old course in ! south Louisville. The vanguard arrived be- I fore dawn. By mid-morning thousands had taken up vantage points in the inner field! and along the rails bordering the, home ! stretch. The scene was a typically exciting Derby day scene, with the races run through a lane of shrilling humanity; red, white and blue pennants fluttered from the two tall white flagpoles in the green, flower-spangled fields. The rooftops of residences along Central Avenue freighted with thousands of the unpaid attendance; the tops of the white barns flanking the long back stretch similarly crowded; souvenir hawkers shouting themselves hoarse; innumerable bands blaring and the mint julep booths doing the proverbial land-office business. This is the thoroughbreds day in the sports sun and his disciples were celebrating the occasion with all the customary jubilance and all the trimmings. A picturesque part of all the fanfare and pageantry was the acclaiming of a new turf idol, when the hero of the 1942 Derby was posed in the winners ring, wreathed in American beauties thus fulfilling his destiny among the thousands of thoroughbred foals registered in 1939. The very atmosphere was charged with a feeling of patriotism. "Old Glory" rippled high above the center field; large, gleaming red crosses studded the stewards pagoda, thousands of the luckier element in attendance invested a major part of their winnings at the War Bonds booths and Col. Matt Winn presented Churchill Downs check for 0,000 to the American Red Cross. One of the most popular winners was Robert Needhams Cerberus, who accounted for the seven-furlong French Lick Springs Purse. Taking the lead on the stretch turn, when Steve Brooks called upon him, the Needham three-year-old drew out fast and won with three lengths to spare from Raphael II. First of All was third.
