view raw text
,. . % ■ ":!%Jpij]B KK Jr" JOCKEY EDDIE ARCARO— Will be astride the favored Phalanx, a victory on whom would enable him to establish a new Derby record of four winners in the race. Seventy-Third Seventy-Third Kentucky Kentucky Derby Derby Engages Engages Fourteen Fourteen Crack Crack Colts Colts Phalanx Phalanx Looms Looms Favorite Favorite Over Over Faultless Faultless And And Jet Jet Pilot Pilot in in Churchill Churchill Turf Turf Classic Classic [ Record Crowd for 00,000 Event Anticipated; Track May Be Good by Post Time CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville. Ky.. May 2. — Fourteen of the nations best three-year-old colts have made a date with destiny in the 73rd running of Churchill Downs historic Kentucky Derby here tomorrow. As entries for this pell-mell mile and a quarter run were closed this morning, Phalanx continued to loom formidably as the favorite with perhaps the largest crowd that has ever witnessed a horse race in two centuries of the sport in America. Experts in such matters expect that C. V. Whitney and A. S. Hewitts Wood Memorial winner will be about 8 to 5 to turn back Calumets Blue Grass and Derby Trial winner, Faultless, Mrs. M. E. Whitneys tiny Chesapeake winner, Bullet Proof, Mrs. Elizabeth Grahams speedy Jet Pilot and the others in this "Run for the Roses." None of the remaining members of the field is altogether friendless and the list ranges impressively through William Helis Cosmic Bomb, W.-L. Ranchs W L Sickle and Stepfather; E. O. Stice and Sons Santa Anita Derby winner, On Trust; Dixiana s Star Reward; Tigani and Boines Double Jay; Circle Ms Riskolater, Mrs. Dodge Sloanes Liberty Road. W. M. Peaveys Jett-Jett, and Balheim, owned by Mrs. R. J. Murphy and her daughter, Susan Kellogg. May Net Winner 3,160 If all 14 face starter Ruby White atop the long homestretch for this classic, the winner will earn a net prize of 3,160 and the race will have a gross value of 21,210, with an added money purse of 00,460. The management added 60 more to the Derby purse this morning under the rule that when a substitute race is carded, any difference in purse monies must be added to the other events on the program. Col. Matt J. Winn, the 86-year-old Ken-tuckian, whose promotional genius gave the Derby its present day signifcance, is confident that the crowd at the Downs on Saturday will exceed the 1946 record of 102,000, basing this prophesy on an unprecedented demand for reservations. A Continued on Page Seven BJIJMIU j, iiHiin.i.iiiiiiii.iijinii ill. LlJ.1,. JI.WjIJ, JJK!,IMJW| ........ ■■ft ■■■: ■■■■■■;■ - ■-,■,.... ■ jap fMPl| COL. MATT J. WINN— Presents the seventy-third edition of the Kentucky Derby before a record-breaking crowd at Churchill Downs this afternoon. Seventy-Third Kentucky Derby Engages Fourteen Crack Colts Phalanx Looms Choice Over t Faultless and Jet Pilot in Turf Classic at Churchill Continued from Page One mellow spring sun was shining on the muddy Downs course as entries lor the Derby were taken this morning and dry going is forecast. As he dropped the highly fancied Phalanx name into the box, trainer Sylvester E. Veitch said that "hes all right" in the laconic way that horsemen have, and multiplying this by 10 one gains a vague notion of how he actually feels about his charge. Curiously enough, Phalanx is the first Derby entrant to be saddled by the 38-year-old New Yorker, who only took over the conditioning of a string last season, although jockey Eddie Arcaro will be trying to set a Derby riding record with a fourth winner of this event. Trainer Ben Jones, of Warren Wrights Faultless, also will be trying for his fourth E rby, which would give him a tie with the late H. J. Derby Dick Thompson in this respect. Faultless already this spring has captured the Flamingo, Blue Grass and Trial. It is rather strange that the form students do not take him more seriously in view of this performance record, but he did not win either of the Kentucky "previews" of the "Rose Run" in spread-eagle fashion and, indeed, Charles T. Fishers stretch-running Star Reward was closing on him at the end of the mile Trial. Faultless will have the familiar Doug Dodson in the stirrups when the band strikes up "My Old Kentucky Home" and he is, incidentally, a "nephew" of Lawrin, the first Derby winner saddled by Ben Jones. The Missourian has managed to bring him up to the race as one thoroughly seasoned with training and racing and still carrying all the flesh and "bloom" of a fresh horse. It seems to be a question of the colts ability to go a mile and a quarter and the damper the going the less confidence his admirers can have he will do so. Soft Footing Aid to Jet Pilot The veteran Tom Smith has Jet Pilot trained to the minute and he is hoping as strongly for soft footing as Faultless camp hopes the surface is fast. It was here, last Derby Day, that Maine Chance Farms 1,000 yearling bargain made his debut in the slop, winning by almost "the length of the stretch." The little red horse is a son of Blenheim II., who sired the Derby record-holder, Whirlaway, but speed seems to be his forte and it will be surprising to many if he goes a mile and a quarter under 126, even though he won the mile and a sixteenth of the Pimlico Futurity last fall. Eric Guerin Will have the leg up on Jet Pilot and if he has never been a very much publicized rider, he is known among jockeys and trainers as a skilled hand. Phalanx will carry the hopes of the East, Faultless those of the Middle West and On Trust is the champion of the California delegation here. Bred by Louis B. Mayer, who gave him to his brother Jerry, who sold him to the newcomer, E. O. Stice, for a reported 5,000, On Trust has conclusively proved that he is "the most horse" among the three-year-olds who ran on the West Coast this season. He won the mile and a quarter Santa Anita Derby by an increasing patch of daylight and has done well for Willie Molter, the leading trainer of 1946, since coming to the Downs "air mail special," so to speak. There seems to be a tendancy to dismiss On Trust lightly because other California three-year-olds have run rather dismally since coming east, but he also beat these colts while they still were on the coast. The son of the unraced Alibhai has been the route with his weight up and will be handled by Johnny Longden, who won the Derby on Count Fleet. Bullet Proof has the dubious distinction of being perhaps the smallest horse to start in the Derby in at least 30 years, as he stands a bit less than 15 hands under the standard. But this Virginian played the role of "giant killer" in the Chesapeake at Havre recently, when he came from last to first place with a resolute drive over the final three furlongs. Liz Whitney forthwith ordered a car to bring him to the Downs, in an effort to better the performance of his sire, Stepin-fetchit, who was third to Burgoo King in an earlier "Run for the Roses." Bullet Proof appears to be the sort of colt who is always there to rectify any mistakes, and he is to be ridden by Wayne Wright, who won the race rather unexpectedly on Shut Out. Star Reward created a most favorable impression in the Derby Trial, when he came charging out of the pack the last furlong and finished with the winner, Faultless. Theres no doubt that this Dixiana colt Is long-winded enough, but it was noted that in the Trial the winner was not whipped out to cope with him, so that the actual mar- gin separating them may be somewhat misleading. Star Reward was lightly raced at two, as he appeared to be at a disadvantage in sprints, and it is worth noting that Fisher and trainer Hodgins were second with the moody Spy Song in Assaults Derby last May. There are vague misgivings that W L Sickle, Stepfather, Double Jay and Cosmic Bomb are a little the worse for wear. W L Sickle chronically goes sore but runs out of it and will have ample time to do so in the Derby. Stepfather is a 00,000 investment that Warner made at the L. B. Mayer auction, and he is said to have duplicated a sore shoulder. He and his stablemate, W L Sickle, are both of the stretch-running persuasion, and they are the only entry in the race. Trainer Philpot was to confer with Warner today as to whether to run one or both. Jack Westrope will likely have the choice of mounts if both go. Clark On Cosmic Bomb Cosmic Bomb was the opening favorite for the Derby in the futures, but since has been beaten off in the Wood and Derby Trials. Trainer Willie Booth points out that the Helis colt improved 13 lengths from the Wood to the Derby Trial, however, and declared "he is the sort of horse that requires a lot of work, and if he improves a few more lengths in the Derby, he will be right there." Shelby Clark is to have the mount, and it was this lad who piloted the "Bomber" in the Hopeful last summer, when he was beaten inches by Blue Border and disqualified from the place. Double Jay was voted the leading two-year-old colt of 1946 in the Daily Racing Form poll, after he had climaxed his campaign with a smart victory over the wealthy colt, Education in the mile Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes here. The Ridge-wood Stable runner has started twice this spring, finishing third to King Bay in a sprint, then winding up a rather limber fifth in the Derby Trial after cutting out a busy pace. He has lost favor at about the same rate Star Reward has gained it since that affair, but he has the natural speed to be a factor for a while, at least. Johnny Gilbert has ridden him in his best races and will again have the mount in the Derby. Riskolater made a brave if futile run at Faultless the last part of the Blue Grass Stakes, which has encouraged an impression that he will stay the route, if only he stays it fast enough. Ed Moores son of the cup horse, Isolater, is to be ridden again by Balzaretti. Liberty Road, Jett-Jett and Balheim are among the rank outsiders. The veteran Preston Burch has run Brookmeades Liberty Road only twice this season and the leggy son of Sir Gallahad III. was second in a unimportant Florida sprint, then won off at a mile and sixteenth at Jamaica. Jett-Jett has run three times this season, without winning and was beaten by anonymities, like Sweet Taters and Song Sparrow, so that he should be plenty of price if nothing more. Balheim was named, as a sort of after-thought after he won the nightcap here yesterday. He belongs to the Murlogg Farm and is by Blenheim II.
