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Derby Derby Trial Trial is is or on the the Trial, Trial, and and ■ — ■■■■■■ ...i .. . ., .. Between Races —By Oscar Otis CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., April 29.— The Thirteenth running of the Derby Derby Trial Trial is is or on i tap tap for for racing racing fans fans here here rTt1 Tuesday, 1 pqH n v a and n H -n/lifla while i tap tap for for racing racing fans fans here here rTt1 Tuesday, 1 pqH n v a and n H -n/lifla while only one horse, Citation, has ever won both the Trial and the Derby, the mile dash is quite properly considered as having an important bearing on the Derby outcome. Last year, you may recall, nobody gave Ponder much consideration in the Derby until after he had closed boldly in while while he he was was beaten beaten by by the the Trial, Trial, and and ■ closed boldly in while while he he was was beaten beaten by by Olympia in the mile, he came on to win the Derby rather impressively, and since then, has more than proved that it was no fluke score. There is a school of thought here in Kentucky that holds that anything Ben Jones saddles in the Derby may be considered as dangerous, hence the scheduled outing of Theory on Tuesday will hold more than average interest. Any horse that raced as fast as Theory did last winter, six furlongs in 1:09, would be entitled to more than a passing glance in any mans horse race, including the Derby. A creditable effort on the part of the Calumet horse would draw him considerable support on Saturday. As Bill Corum remarked, in print, before the Derby last year, "Im going for Ponder, if only because I dont believe a trained Ben Jones entry should be held at 15 to 1, if Ben was running an old brown billy goat." A lot of people are willing to agree this year after witnessing Pon-ders magnificient and winning stretch drive. At that, the record of Ben Jones in the Derby is the most impressive of any. The trial is the last possible chance Derby candidates will have to get a race under their belts. Those who do not start on Tuesday all have had sufficient racing in other stakes, such as the Wood Memorial and Blue Grass, and will content themselves with workouts. The favorite. Your Host, is scheduled to get his final honing either Wednesday or Thursday morning. Horses and People: Among the movie crews at Churchill Downs on Derby Day will be one representing: the L. and L. Corporation, the L. and L. standing: for Lat-imore and Longden. The rider for Your Host has sold the rights to his life story to the new company, and a win on Your Host Saturday would fit the script to perfection. The life of Longden will be a grade A production, in technicolor, but Longden will not play himself in the picture. Those who have seen the script are enthusiastic over the possibilities of the pix...AIec Gordon can be given credit for an assist if Your Host wins the Derby. . .It was on his advice, when he was farm manager at the L. B. Mayer Perris acreage, that Boudoir II. be taken from the book of Beau Fere and given to Alibhai. . .While in past seasons Dixiana has sent a horse or so to Delaware for stakes, the entire first string is going east this year, then return to the Middle West for the first phases of Arlington Park sport. The stable didnt get one to the post at Santa Anita during the winter because of a cough, but thats all over now, and trainer Jack Hodgins is ready to unleash some promising juveniles... One of his best is known as In Hopes, a half sister to Heres Hoping. While the TRPB doesnt ordinarily concern itself with internal traffic problems of a race course, at the request of Bill Corum, Keith Carter, head of the Spencer Drayton organization in the Midwest, will lend a hand toward helping expedite the passage of people to their proper box areas on Derby Day. A new and streamlined system will be used to speed up admissions and untangle congested areas ; near certain inside gates. All hands connected with Churchill Downs want to make the visit of the tens of thousands who will be on hand as enjoyable as possible. The elimination of congestion certainly could help accomplish that purpose. Incidentally, Derby Day visitors are advised that it would help a lot if they would park somewhere else and use public transportation to the Downs. Ample service will be provided. . .Calumet Farms chief earner this year has been Ponder, who has picked up a mere 58,550 in California to date. He has another 0,000 stake at which to shoot during the Golden Gate Fields meeting. . .Perhaps the busiest man in Louis-.ville this week is Brownie Leach, who handles public relations for the Downs. Accredited newspapermen will set a new record this year for number, and there is Continued on Page Forty-Two I BETWEEN RACES By OSCAB OTIS Continued from Page Three no doubt but that the all-time wordage file from the track, 637,975, will be broken again this year. The record, as might be expected, was hung up last year for the Diamond Jubilee, or Seventy-fifth Derby. Speaking of organization and efficency, the Western Union does a masterful job for the Derby, and the countless words flow out over a network of wires that within a matter of minutes after the race, the story of the Derby is being set in type in newspaper offices from border to border and coast to coast. Jedd Alt, who is handling the book of Johnny Longden during Derby week, has done the same chore before on the many Longden excursions back this way from the coast. Longden is no stranger to the Derby, having ridden the great Count Fleet to victory in 4943. He was fourth with On Trust in 1947, second with Spy Song in 1946, fourth with With Regards in 1942, unplaced with Sirroco in 1940, and fourth with Melodist in 1937, certainly not a bad Derby record. . .Louis Lee Haggin II., president of Keeneland, -has been invited to Hollywood Park this summer to "do the honors" in the winners circle following the running of the Haggin Stakes. He may not accept because of press of business, but he hopes that before many more years pass, he will raise a thoroughbred to compete in the Haggin... The first crop of Royal Gem, the imported Australian stakes horse and proven sire "Down Under," is putting in an appearance at the Hermitage Farm of Warner Jones, Jr.... Cash Book, dam of Challenge Me, has foaled a colt, and Contrast, dam of Flashco, a filly. Jockey Ken Church is of the opinion that the lightning fast Juliets Nurse will travel a distance. "Shes so quick she is deceptive," says Church, "but so far, she always had ample left for. the stretch, always a good indication that a horse can carry its speed further than mere sprint distances." . . . Tom Veitch, brother of C. V. WWtney trainer Syl Veitch, and long-time stable foreman for the latter, is taking over as farm manager to replace the late Bill Harris. . .Mr. Trouble, incidentally, will be only the second horse Veitch has ever saddled in the Derby. His firsti of course, was Phalanx, now at stud; And, as strange as it may seem, this spring has marked the first time that Veitch has ever trained the Whitney string at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. Heretofore, the man has always had the first string in New York at this time of the year. Veitch, along with Ben Jones, believes that- high weights will shorten the active career of a top horse, but the Whitney trainer admits he can provide no satisfactory alternative for a handicap to bring all horses into a theoretical chance in stakes for older horses. And now that owner Whitney has resigned as Undersecretary of Commerce, he can be expected to spend more time with, and enjoy, his thoroughbred breeding and racing activity.
