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Coast Racings Influence on Derby" Represented Almost Yearly b Since Turn of 20th Century s Many Who Started in Run* ► For Roses Are Now at Stud, j ■ I At Various California Farms. I I LOS ANGELES, Calif., May 6.— While, Morvich was the only true native son ever to have won the Kentucky Derby, California | and far western racing has had an in- | j i fluence on the Blue Grass classic almost every year since the turn of the century. | I Back in 1904 Elwood, owned by Mr. and; j Mrs. C. E. Durnell, left old Ascot Park in Los Angeles and became the Derby winner of that year. Charley Durnell hadnt wanted to start Elwood in the Derby because he didnt think he had a chance against Proceeds, who was a 6 to 5 favorite, 1 I and he is said to have sent word from Chicago, where he had been at the time, to his foreman, George Strate, not to start the horse. However, Mrs. Durnell, under whose silks the horse raced, countermanded her husbands instructions and Elwood started with what results are now a matter of record. Elwood won at 15 to 1. "Boots" Durnell isnt around any more. He died in Arcadia, Calif., last winter. The San Francisco fiddle player, William G. Yanke, later known as a plunger in his I betting operations, sent the filly, Round the World, to the Kentucky Derby in 1911. She was a sensation at Juarez before her Derby try and she was a consistent winner afterwards, but she went unplaced in the Churchill Downs stake. Veteran horsemen like to remember when she was shipped to Sheepshead Bay during her two-year-old form and beat the mighty Iron Mask. Macomber Represented Three Times Another San Franciscan, A. K. Macomber, who raced horses both in this country and in Europe, was represented in the Derby in 1916, 1917 and in 1918. He started Star Hawk and The Cock in 1916 and the former, in finishing second, was beaten only a neck by George Smith. The following year Macomber s red and white silks were carried by War Star, Star Master and Star Gazer, all three unplaced behind Omar Khayyam, and in 1918 he provided the favorite in War Cloud, who, however, had to be content with fourth honors. Ex-terminator won the race in the mud. Macomber later set up a vast breeding , I establishment at Miramonte, near San Jose, Calif., and brought to California a great : number of stallions, broodmares and young ! thoroughbred stock from England and I , France. D. H. J. Macomber directed the ► ■ j I I I | | j i | I j 1 I I , I ! I n breeding operations on the place and the Z California horseman, Walter Jennings, was CT the trainer. Later the Macomber horses -n raced under the name of the Miramonte O Stud with Frisco Hoag as the trainer. 2 The far West got a share of the glory * out of the 1921 Derby through the "bush" «£ rider, Charles Thompson, who was with E. 2 R. Bradley long enough to bring home Be- c have Yourself ahead of his stablemate, Black Servant. Thompson experienced the P thrill of a lifetime, but it cost him his job. - Bradley had wanted to win with Black * Servant, on whom he had wagered heavily 5 in the future books. Two weeks after his 5 epic ride Thompson was back in Reno from whence he had come. C*4 Alfred Johnson Winning Rider Then came Morvichs year. He led from o soon after the start to the finish under the handling of Alfred Johnson, who got his start at old Tijuana and who now has a few horses racing in California. Morvich was considered to be the lesser in promise of two A. B". Spreckels thoroughbreds, the other, Runstar, having been sold to J. W. McClelland for 0,000. Runstar, however, was turned back as unsatisfactory. Morvich was sold in New York for ,000 before he was proven, but after he showed some evidence of quality Benjamin Block, New York broker, bought him for a much more munificent sum. Morvich was bred at Napa Farm, near Golden Gate Fields, and received his early schooling and preparation under the direction of "Catfish" Bill Carroll. After Morvichs Kentucky Derby victory there was a lively demand for California-bred horses and two consignments of them went to the Saratoga Sales, where they fetched excellent prices. Morvich was by Runnymede from Hymir, the latter a California-bred mare by Dr. Leggo. In 1923 Gen. Thatcher represented the far Wests rooting interest in the Derby. He belonged to George Wingfield, Nevada millionaire, who established in Reno a large haras known as the Nevada Stock Farm. Gen. Thatcher finished a deep sixteenth in a field of 21, but he later developed into a first-rate handicap horse. Charlie Hartwell, Honolulu and Califor- nia horseman, who now has several thor- oughbreds at Golden Gate Fields, thought well enough of a California-bred, Cannon Shot, to pay 0,000 for him and send him to Louisville for the 1924 classic. The colt Continued on Page Fifteen West Coast Racing Has Had Influence on Derby Annually Many Who Started in Run i For Roses Are Now at Stud At Various California Farms Continued from Page Nine was shipped from Tijuana and with him went George Ellis, then an apprentice and under contract to Hartwell. Ellis rode the horse in the big race and he finished twelfth. Black Gold won it. Ellis is back in Tijuana now — training horses. Cotton Ships Elector to Louisville About this period Hamilton H. Cotton, Los Angeles financier, established his beautiful La Brea ranch at San Clemente and began to assemble thoroughbred stock on a lavish scale. Among those he acquired was Elector, later to prove himself a notable mud runner, and this colt he shipped from Tijuana to Louisville for the 1925 Kentucky Derby. John B. McKee took the horse east. He finished far back, but he was at least as well thought of as the winner, Flying Ebony, since they both were coupled in the mutuel field along with several others. Another Derby development of Tijuana and the far West was Light Carbine, a British-bred colt by Light Galloper, who was sent to this country by A. K. Macomber. Light Carbine was bought from the Mira-monte Stud by I. B. Humphries and, sent to Louisville, was seventh in the 1926 Derby. Doc M. J. Dunleavy, was his trainer. Later Light Carbine went to New York and won the Brooklyn Handicap and beat some of the best horses in the land. Humphries was brought into racing by Harry Unna with the horse, Little Chief, whom old-timers may remember. Though he was owned by a Chicagoan, G. Frank Croissant, the horse, Roycrofter, who was last in the 1926 Derby, also had a Tijuana background, for that winter he had been second to Carlaris in the Coffroth Handicap. Carlaris, incidentally, had been installed the winter book favorite for the Louisville stake, as a result of his brilliant victories in the Tijuana Derby and the Coffroth, but he developed an infected leg and did not start. W. T. "Fatty" Anderson, who owned the British-bred Carlaris, is reputed to have won 00,000 on the colt and is also said to have refused an identical sum for him. Naishapur was the next to represent a Californian in the Derby. Owned by Chaffee Earl, young Los Angeles sportsman, and trained by John B. McKee, Naishapur won the 1929 Tijuana Derby and was a bang-up second to Golden Prince in the Coffroth, and then he headed east. Dramatically, Naishapur arrived in Louisville on the eve of the big race and finished second to Clyde Van Dusen. An Injury later in Chicago cut short his racing career. The same year Ervast, the best California-bred three-year-old of the season, was sent to Derbyville by Baron Long of Los Angeles, but when rain came and converted the Downs track into mud trainer Walter Fen-wick scratched him at noon on the day of the race. The late George Woolf was to have ridden him. Walter H. Hoffman, who expanded his Rancho Casitas Stable largely on the heavy purse winnings of Crystal Pennant who captured the Coffroth Handicap for him, had the pleasure in 1930 of seeing his three-year-old Longus show promise and he was so encouraged by the horses prospects that he shipped him to Churchill Downs for the Derby. Fred Gorsting took the colt to Kentucky and he finished sixth. Gallant Sir, who later was to prove himself a giant killer, was the far wests Derby hope in 1932. He belonged to Norman W. Church, a Los Angelino transplanted from Illinois. There was a 15-minute post delay as starter Bill Hamilton tried to line up the field of 20, and some who were close enough to see claim that Gallant Sir, a sluggish horse anyway, went to sleep. The usually alert George Woolf also may have been dozing, for they broke in eighteenth position. Afterwards Gallant Sir won two Agua Cali-ente Handicaps and beat Equipoise. Indian Brooms Try There was a lapse then, as far as western horses competing in the Derby was concerned, until 1936 when Major Austin C. Taylor, Vancouver millionaire, found himself with the sensational Indian Broom in his barn. This colt was a Brookmeade Stable cast-off and he joined the Taylor racing forces just about the time the Canadian sportsman was breaking into the sport in a large way. Indian Broom raced spectacularly at Tanforan in the spring of 1936 and when he whipped Top Row in the March-bank Handicap he was forthwith sent to Louisville, accompanied by Darrell Cannon, his trainer, and George Burns, his jockey. ►Indian Broom finished third to Bold Ven- ture and Brevity and later was rated one of the top-weight horses in California and Washington racing. Raoul Walsh, Hollywood motion picture director and long a patron of Tijuana racing, sought victory in the Derby of 1937 with sunset Trail II., a colt he imported from Ireland. Raoul s brother, George, trained the horse in California and then transported him to Louisville where, in the classic, he went unplaced. The following year another noted motion picture personage, Myron Selznick, made a Derby bid with Cant Wait and he had more success. Cant Wait was third to Lawrin and Dauber. It also was that same spring that Maxwell Howards Stagehand, who went to Churchill Downs after having won the Santa Anita Derby and the Santa Anita Handicap, was stricken by an illness on almost the eve of the stake and had to be withdrawn. His stablemate, The Chief, was a starter and finished fifth. Gallahadion Raced on Coast In 1940 California racing sent two horses to the Kentucky Derby and one of them, the Milky Way Farms Gallahadion, won it and the other, Charles S. Howards Mioland, was fourth. While Gallahadion could not claim the far west as his bailiwick he did develop his three-year-old form at Santa Anita, as did Mioland. The latter was bred in Oregon by H. W. Ray, a hop grower, and was owned by a San Franciscan. Gallahadion was rather a disappointment after his Derby victory, but Mioland, who later won the American Derby, became one of the nations top-ranking handicap horses. Thirty-seven years after he saddled El-wood for his Derby triumph, George Strate reappeared in Louisville to saddle another contender for that coveted prize. This time, in 1941, he journeyed from California to Louisville with Staretor, owned by Hugh S. Nesbitt, Los Angeles soft drink king. Strate has often lamented that Staretor could have won almost any Derby up until the one in which he took part, but he couldnt beat Whirlaway. Staretor was second. The same spring Charles Howard made his second Derby bid, this time with Porters Cap, late of Santa Anita. The Howard colt ran fourth. Another speed sensation was sent from California in 1942. He was T. D. Grimes With Regards whose two-year-old form at Hollywood Park suggested that he might develop into a top-liner. With Regards was known around Churchill Downs as the rheumatic phenomenon, for he spent almost all of his inactive time under an electrically heated blanket to sooth his aching back. With Regards paced the *ield in his ►Derby to the homestretch and then dropped back, finishing fourth. Incident- -ally, With Regards was a minor casualty of the race, for Johnny Longden said the horse had his tail caught in the starting gate at the break. E. C. A. Berger, Los Angeles turfman, »iso had a starter in the 1942 Kentucky I Derby in Boot and Spur who was shipped ! to Churchill Downs from Tijuana via Chi- ! cago. Willie Molter, now the nations lead- , ing trainer, saddled Boot and Spur. The next spring William E. Boeing, j Seattle industrialist who is now in the • process of dissolving his thoroughbred j holdings, had the pleasure of seeing his . Slide Rule carry his silks into third place in the 1943 Derby, while another western : representative in the same event was Burnt Cork, owned by the colored radio comedian . Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. Burnt Cork ; was unplaced, but he gave the denizens of ■ Louisvilles West Walnut Street a thrill as ! he raced with the leaders for almost half i the distance. In 1944 two more horses from California went to the Derby. They were Mrs. George ■ Poulsens Broadcloth, who finished second ■ to Pensive after having raced to the front ■ in the homestretch, and the Erlanger Sta- . bles Shut Up, who ran fourth. Charles Howard made another try for ; the Derby and missed again in 1945, this ; time with Sea Swallow, while in 1946, Harry Warner made an unsuccessful bid with his 00,000 purchase, Stepfather, who currently is racing in the handicap division out here in California. Another recent Californian to start in the Derby was On Trust, bred in this state by Louis B. Mayer and owned by E. O. Stice and Sons. That was in 1947. On Trust, who has become known as the horse who won a fortune by finishing second, was fourth in the Derby. The winner, Jet Pilot, was at Santa Anita that winter and received his early preparation for his Louisville victory over the Arcadia course. The last to fly the far western banner in the Blue Grass classic was Grandpere, whom E. H. J. Shaw took to the Downs for Mrs. J. P. Adams a year ago. Grand-peres early preparation at Santa Anita had been retarded and he wasnt quite as fit as he might have been. In any case, he failed to get into the money. Horses who have started in the Kentucky Derby will leave a lasting imprint on the thoroughbred industry in California, for a number of them are now at stud in this state. Some of them are Boxthorn, Tick On, Burning Star, Heelfly, Cant Wait, Viscounty, Mioland, Roman Soldier, Brokers Tip, Naishapur, The Nut, Light Carbine, Bewithus, Rip Rap, Sweeping Away, Car-tago, Ladysman, He Did, With Regards and Dogpatch.
