view raw text
JUDGES STAND by charles hatton CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — Someone has said that there is magic in the phrase, "Derby Day in Kentucky," and looking about us at the crowds here for the race, we are quite willing to believe it. It may even be that Col. Matt Winn is correct in his guess that this seventy-third "Run for the Roses" will attract the largest throng that ever saw a horse race in America. We were much too young to recall our first Derby very clearly, except that it was in 1916 and a leggy black colt called George Smith had an exciting amount of trouble beating Star Hawk. Since then the race has grown from a more or less local affair into a world-famous sports event. Call it "showmanship" or "exhibitionism," if you like, but whatever it is, it should be perfectly obvious by now that the American public likes it. Quite apart from all the fuss and feathers, a mile and a quarter race is an ideal test, we think, for it poses a question of both speed and stamina. The Derby is rarely ever won by a one dimensional sprinter or a plodder. It is a comparatively simple thing to breed and develop that sort. The ability of a three-year-old to sustain the Derby pace a mile and a quarter under 126 pounds in early May is a very elusive quality. Many sportsmen have spent years and fortunes trying to produce it at their studs. AAA Of course, skillful handling and luck are important in the development of a Derby horse, but Mr. Fitz says that "after all, the trainer can only bring out what is bred In a horse." Phalanx, Faultless and Jet Pilot are the horses of the hour here, and one of them may even turn out to be the "Horse of the Year." They are by the proven sires Pilate, Bull Lea and Blenheim H., out of the stakes winners Jacola, Unerring and Black Wave. Each is the result of an intelligently planned mating. One finds no Breeding of Derby Winner Highest Honor Field Attests Importance of Class in Dam Noted Sires Among Past Winners of Stake Sir Gallahad III., Equipoise Blood Scores weak links in their pedigrees for at least three generations, which are the generations that really matter. Star Rewards dam won a Futurity, and Cosmic Bombs was only a head behind Myrtle wood in 1:11. Of course, It would be nonsense to say that Derby winners come only from mares who were themselves high-class runners. But when one bears in mind that fewer than 10 per cent of the broodmares are stakes mares, the percentage of Derby horses from them is rather significant. AAA Since it is everyones little conceit that he can pick the Derby winner, we dont mind saying that Phalanx seems "the one to beat," even though he did not quite dry out the track in his work on Wednesday. Curiously enough, Les Combs is afraid of Phalanx, Ivor Balding is afraid of Jet Pilot, and Faultless now has won both the Blue Grass and Derby Trial without "scaring" anybody, except possibly Ben Jones. The experts complain that the Derby colts are not running or working in very smart time, but their trainers only hope they run fast enough to beat the field over the track. One heard pretty much the same complaints about Assaults time in the "Triple Crown" event a year ago. Max Hirsch then gave him a sort of "second training," and he outran the record breakers Lucky Draw and Stymie. With all due respect for the three-year-old colts, we arent at all sure Jack Campbell erred in his Experimental estimate of First Flight, and it is going to be interesting if she can train on this spring. Of course, it is asking a great deal of a filly to beat the colts at a mile and a quarter, but she did it in a furlong last fall, and if Phalanx does not come through she may have the chance. There is a theory that the Mahmouds are not stayers, and yet Flushing n. was a cup horse, Mahmoudess goes a mile and a half, the undersized Monsoon was beaten a length for the Santa Anita, and Mighty Story prefers a route. AAA It used to be said that Derby winners do not make good sires, but the founders of three American sire lines ran in the race. Dominos sire, Himyar, was second to Day Star in 1878. Hanovers sire, Hindoo, won the 1881 "Run for the Roses," and Ben Brush captured that in 1896. Reigh Count, Gallant Fox, War Admiral, Johnstown and Whirlaway are contemporary sires who won the race, and Bimelech was second to the surprising Gal-lahadion In 1940. Until the year Ben Brush beat Ben* Eder a nose in 2:07%, the Derby was run at a mile and a half. There were many protests that a mile and a half was too far to run three-year-olds so early in the season, just as there now are protests against a mile and a quarter for the same reason. Colonel Winn likes to think of the race as a test of stamina, and once told us that no further concession will be made. AAA Turfiana: Half of the Derby Trial field appeared sore, and several may attempt to emulate Reigh Count, who literally jumped out of a tub of ice and won the Derby. . . . Three of the last eight Derby winners are sons or grandsons of Sir Gallahad HI., and two of the last five are sons or grandsons of Equipoise. . . . Warren Wright is the holder of the largest share in Blenheim n., sire of the Derby record-holder Whirlaway, and has enjoyed the largest share of luck with his progeny, which may be owing in some degree to Ben Jones patience. . . . Seven of the last eight Derby winners now are at stud in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky. . . . The dams of Faultless, Double Jay and Jet Pilot were bred to those colts sires again in the present season.
