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JAMES SMITH Assistant to nis father Tom Smith trainer of Mrs Ada L Rice stable arrived from the East to inspect stock at the Rice farm at Wheaton III and send several head back to the stable in the East i iMy My Baku Not Held Invincible In English Derby on June 5 Guineas Victor Still Has to Prove Stamina The Cobbler And Black Tarquin Threats ThreatsBy By VERNON MORGAN MORGANReuters Reuters Sports Editor EditorLONDON LONDON England May 5 One of the first things racegoers overseaswill want to know is how the 2 pOOJ Guineas winner the GaekwarVof Barodas My Babu is re ¬ garded for the Derby run over half simile further at Epsom on June 5 Although opinions differ greatly the majority seem to think lie probably will win the Derby judging by the fact that at the first callover after the 2000 Guineas this Frenchbred son of Djebel was backed down to 5 to 2 Before the Guineas lie was on offer at 9 to 2 At the same time by no means all the critics regard My Babu as a readymade Derby winner arid that he is even more certain to beat Colonel Giles Loders The Cobbler in the extra halfmile of the Derby than at Newmarket where he only scored by a head headIndeed Indeed bookmakers who were offering The Cobbler at 100 to 8 for the Derby cut his price to 6 to 1 after the Guineas show ¬ ing that they thought he was something of a threat to My Babu and represented the greatest danger to the Indian Princes great ambition of winning Englands Derby DerbyBut But will The Cobbler be Noel Murless first string for the Derby and accordingly be ridden by the stable jockey Gordon Richards RichardsTwo Two Other Prospects in Stable StableIn In Murless Beckhampton stable there are two other high class threeyearolds in Hoylake and Roaring Forties either of which might well become the stables first choice Indeed many people professed to know that Hoylake was the chief Derby hope before the Guineas was run With The Cobbler doing so well at Newmarket he would now appear to be Beckhamptons main hope Time will tell What racegoers want to know is whether My Babu and The Cobbler are really en ¬ dowed with the necessary stamina to win the Derby and it is on this point that there is disagreement disagreementMy My Babu fans of which there are many were delighted with his running at New ¬ market and are already counting their Derby winnings They say My Babu was badly drawn at the start and repeat jockey Charlie Smirkes statementthat he would probably have won by several lengths had he got a place on the stand side sideThey They point out that the Gaekwar of Barodas horse came from behind and be ¬ lieve he was running on at the finish which leads them to suppose that he will always beat The Cobbler at one mile or over overThose Those who backed The Cobbler and they too were many are equally pleased with his runnihg in the Guineas They say he was badly in need of a race and that had he had it victory would have gone to him They say Gordon Richards should know and he told Colonel Loder that had The Cobbler had even one race he might well have won Richards also told Coldnel Loder that he thought The Cobbler would come down the hill at Epsom all right which pleased The Cobbler fans still further furtherMay May Have Won at Longer Distance DistanceMoreover Moreover The Gobbler foughth desper ¬ ately at Newmarket and in the opinion of many good judges might have won with further to go His supporters therefore are more than hopeful he will turn the tables on My Babu at Epsom EpsomBut But what both parties seem to overlook is the part the weather may have to play in the Derby If the going is heavy or even soft there might be a considerable reversal of form and Pride of India tor one would be expected to do much better betterMy My Babu being on the small side is likely to relish softer going much less than the big unstanding The Cobbler whose chances of revenge wouia be improved with the changed going goingThen Then there are those who say that after watching the Guineas they are going to look elsewhere for the Derby winner be ¬ lieving that both colts had had enough at the finish Such is the minority view but it exists existsWhat What many seem to overlook is that there are several horses which did not con ¬ test the Guineas whose Derby chance is undeniable undeniableThe The chief of these is the American owned and bred Black Tarquin the winner of the Gimcrack Stakes last year whose sole objective is winning for the chairman of the New York Jockey Club William Woodward the 1948 Derby DerbyThis This big horse is not easy to train but butin in the hands of the Kings trainer Captain CaptainBoydRochfort BoydRochfort he Is being well cared for and if the going is good or soft he should shoulditake itake sotae stoppings IJe has eateniBjirih day Greetings who finished fourth in the Guineas GuineasJock Jock Scot has also been saved for the Derby His owner James Rank has won two useful races with his son of the former St Leger winner Scottish Union and the fact that the bookmakers are making him joint third favorite with Black Tarquin shows what they think of his chances chancesThere There have also to be considered thgj French challenges and although Djeddah failed in the Guineas he may prove more at home over the extra half mile mileOne One of the most noteworthy points about the 2000 Guineas was thafc the winner My Babu being by Djebel who incidentally won the race in 1940 for Marcel Boussac is not eligible for the General Stud Book and is therefore legally what is termed a halfbredControversy halfbred Controversy to Start Again AgainMany Many breeders fight shy of such horses for breeding purposes but what will they say if he wins the Triple Qrown of the Guineas Derby and St Leger It seems as if this ageold controversy will be raised once again especially as Black Tarquin is another halfbred He is by Rhodes Scholar ScholarOne One of the happiest men watching the Guineas must have been George Freer the official handicapper for the Jockey Club because in estimating the merits of last years twoyearolds he put My Babu two pounds higher up in the scale than The Cobbler a point of view wherewith hot every one agreed agreedMy My Babu whose owner defied supersti ¬ tion by rechristening the colt after having originally naming him Leriris has earned 11572 for every minute he has been en ¬ gaged in racing having won 102404 in seven races during which he has fun only five miles two furlongs furlongsHis His time of 134 which was not only the best ever in the 2000 Guineas but equaled the previous best over the Rowley mile course is not necessarily an idication to success in the Derby DerbyIn In the first place there was a strong wind blowing which helped the runners and furthermore history is not entirely with him himTudor Tudor Minstrel last year Ellengowan in 1923 and Kennymore in 1914 each accom ¬ plished a brilliant time in winning the Guineas yet were unplaced in the Derby On the other hand his supporters can point to the fact that Minoru in 1909 and Sunstar in 1913 both won the Derby after registering extremely last times in whining the Guineas GuineasIt It may be that My Babu will not n6w race again until the Derby but The Cob ¬ bler will willPresent Present plans are to give him a race at Lingfield on May 22 in the Derby Trial Stakes race which both April the Fifth and Midday Sun won before going on to success in the Derby DerbySayajirao Sayajirao won this Lingfield race last pear prior to finishing thirdiin the Derby and winning the St Leger it would ap ¬ pear as if The Cobbler iqonn ions ap ¬ preciate that the colts having missed a race before the Guineas affected his chance of winning that event eventIt It may be recalled that Bahram did not race as a threeyearold before the Guineas and then won the Triple Crown but then Bahram was a really exceptional colt that is not to say The Cobbler may not also prove brilliant
