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JET PILOT Last years Derby Dinner and now making his first season at stud has attracted a full book of select producers Derby Breeders Race From I nceptipri Todays Entrants Trace Back To HimvarHindoo Ben Brush Trio Contested Classic and Later Founded Three of Best Male Lines in This Country CountryBy By CHARLES HATTON HATTONCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky April 30 Prom its inception in 1875 the Kentucky Derby has been what is called a breeders race Its significance to the stud in America was clearly shown in 1944 when government bureaus specifically re ¬ stricted travel to the Derby owing to the war and there seemed a dire prospect that the Derby might have to be canceled The demurrer came from the bloodstock breed ¬ ers of the nearby Blue Grass who pointed out the importance of the racetrack test to the nations breeding industry of many millions of dollars Probably you will re call that in the end Col Matt J Winn de ¬ clared that he proposed to run the Derby even If I am the only one on the grounds groundsThe The Run for the Roses only attained its present magnitude in the last several decades but the founders of three of the most successful male lines in America participated in nineteenth century renew ¬ als The first was Himyar who was sec ¬ ond to Day Star in 78 and later estab ¬ lished the remarkable line of Domino The second was Hindoo who won the 1881 Ken ¬ tucky Derby and later sired Hanover whose blood now is so successful both here and abroad The third was Ben Brush who captured the 1896 Derby and sired Broom ¬ stick and Sweep SweepCoaitpwn Coaitpwn Descendant of Himyar HimyarIf If it interests you the contenders in thia years Derby include descendants of each of these patriarchs For instance Coal town traces to Himyar through his gran dam Slow and Easy who was a daughter of the unbeaten Colin My Request has a pedigree which is replete with the blood of Himyar who is buried beneath a marker bearing the epitaph From His Ashes Speed Springs Eternal My Request also has a cross of Ben Brush Billings descends from Hindoo through his sire Mahmoud MahmoudThe The Derby result will enhance the values of stallions mares and foals at many farms in addition to the studs at which the principals were bred and reared For example if one of Calumets Bull Lea colts Citafion and Coaltown proves the winner it will occasion cheering not only at War ¬ ren Wrights pretentious stud but also among the connections of Bull Dog Our Boots Holdall Bull Reigh and other scions of Teddy Should My Request win the Roses it will attract more attention to Third Degree Alquest Hash and other sons of Questionnaire Of course this is true also of mare who are related somehow to the Derby colts coltsThere There is always more or less friendly rivalry among the bloodstock breeding areas and the colts in this yearls Derby lend the race widespread interest geo ¬ graphically For instance Grandpere is by a sire and dam imported from Aus ¬ tralia but he was bred and reared in Cali ¬ fornia which produced the Derby winner Morvich some years ago Then there is Escadru who is by an English horse but was bred and reared In Maryland The others are the produce of Kentucky studs studsContributed Contributed to Improvement of Breed BreedMost Most of the Derby winners to have been retired to the stud arid who were afforded a fair chance of succeeding have con ¬ tributed to improvement of the breed For instance Himyar sired the Derby win ¬ ner Plaudit Bubbling Over sired Burgoo King Reigh Count sired Count Fleet Gal ¬ lant Fox sired Omaha and was the pater ¬ nal grandsire of Lawrin and Bold Venture sired Assault A Derby winner of the pres ¬ ent day is assured th patronage of mare owners when he is retired for stud duty For example the 1947 Rose runner Jet Pilot now is making his first stud season at Spendthrift Farm near Lexington and he attracted a full book of select pro ¬ ducers ducersit it may surprise many of the laymen to know that wealthy sportsmen have inter ¬ ested themselves in maintaining extensive racing stables and studs in the express hope of attaining the honor of breeding and developing a Derby winner winnerAmong Among these is Californias Louis B Mayer the movie producer whd founded a flourishing stud in the desert and imported fashionablybred stallions and mares in the hope of one day leading in a Derby winner He no longer has an active string but if Grandpere should capture the Derby Mayer will have atttained his goal of breeding a winner of American turfs blue ribband ribbandMany Many sportsmen have maintained studs for several horse generations without ever achieving this ambition The late Senator Johnson NCamden once observed that if I had thought I would never breed a Derby winner I shouldnt have established Hart land Stud The most successful breeders of Derby heroes were A J Alexander and J E Madden who are credited in the rec ¬ ords with five each The late E R Brad ¬ ley bred four
