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Z mmmmmmm -*- REFLECTIONS by NELS0N wnstan CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., April 30. — We arrived in Louisville this morning and before trekking to Churchill Downs to view the Derby Trial, endeavored to find out whether the folks down here had a more solid choice for the Derby than we have. The average Kentuckian is a shrewd shrewd judge judge of of horses, horses, but, but, even even Z mmmmmmm -*- a shrewd shrewd judge judge of of horses, horses, but, but, even even after the running of the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, we found many old friends hesitating to name a horse In whom they can place solid faith. The majority tell you that track conditions will have much in common with the winners circle late Saturday afternoon. It is obvious that Big Stretch holds the respect of many, but all are quick to add, after witnessing the Blue Grass, that they would have to make a switch if the going should be "off." There is no telling, with the race five days away, what the running conditions will be. While a fast track would be to the liking of the majority of starters, including Big Stretch, the manner in which C. V. Whitneys Mameluke moves up in "off" going is an indication how track conditions can play a very important part in Derby results. Some horses can run in any kind of going, but not many. So far as this writer is concerned, the Derby is just as open today as it was on April 2, when the Paumonok Handicap field came out to open the New York season. AAA It is always pleasant to get back to Louisville, for even in the early days of Derby Week it is evident that something important is to take place. By Thursday, this town will be jammed to overflowing with people from the four corners of the country, to say nothing of those Kentuckians Hesitate to Name Derby Choice Track Conditions Could Play Major Part Louisville Remains Lovely City of Color Kentucky Oaks Interests Early Arrivals from other countries. There is a charm about placid Louisville that grips a stranger who is there for his first visit, and also those who, year after year come back to view Americas most colorful horse race. Louisville is only a quarter of a mile from the Ohio River and it is a typical southern city. Even with the influx of thousands during Derby Week, it maintains a character uniquely its own. As far back as 1783, the newspapers of that city recorded that races were run on a race track near the foot of Sixteenth Street. In those days, people went to the races atop four-in-hands and freshly-varnished carriages. Col. Lewis M. Clark changed all that with the introduction of the Kentucky Derby. Col. Matt Winn carried on after Colonel Clark, and now Bill Corum is the maestro of the seventy-seventh running that will draw 100,000 people to Churchill Downs. - AAA This is Louisvilles "big week," and one has only to walk through the town to realize that the Derby is on tap for the week-end. But, a full week is made of it, for following tomorrows running of the Derby Trial, the time-honored Clark Handicap will be run on Thursday, and on Friday the 5,000 Kentucky Oaks, a race that came into being, along with the Derby, back in 1875, will be renewed. Through the years, this "derby for fillies" has been won by many of the top members of the sex. This years event is just about as wide open as the Derby itself, for not only has it drawn the entries of Aunt Jinny and How, who were rated equally on the Experimental Handicap list as the best fillies of 1950, but also Sickles Image, Flyamanita and others, who cannot be discounted in this run of one and one-sixteenth miles. There was some talk of Sickles Image, who won the Ashland Stakes, being a starter in the Derby, but it is now fairly certain she will limit her efforts to the Oaks. She is a fast miss, but she will have many fleet fillies charging at her when the field turns for home over the same racing strip that has seen such as Viva America, Princess Doreen, Easter Stockings, Rose of Sharon, Miss Dogwood, Nellie L. and last year, Aris Mona returned the winners. AAA Seldom have New Yorkers seen a more thrilling finish than that in the Grey Lag Handicap on the week-end, with Cochise a head in front of Ferd and the latter a neck ahead of County Delight. There was considerable excitement as those in the crowd awaited the camera verdict, and there were just as many who thought Ferd was the winner as those of the belief that Cochise made it. Virtually all the horses in the Grey Lag are in the 0,000 Gallant Fox Handicap, which will bring the Jamaica meeting to a close on May 12. There will be others, however, to oppose them, including Three Rings, who is training up to the expectations of Bill Knapp. and there is a possibility that Alfred G. Vanderbilts Next Move, the best mare in the iand, will be a starter. Next Move is eligible for this Saturdays Firenze Handicap, which, at a mile and a furlong, has drawn the entries of some of the best of the weaker sex now in training. The Firenze and the Gallant Fox ahape up as worthy features. They are hard races to win and it Continued on Page Thirty-Nine REFLECTIONS By NELSON DUNSTAN Continued from Page Forty-Four would be a new page in the history of the Jamaica track if Next Move won both. AAA At Hialeah in February, this writer, and thousands of others, was greatly impressed with the speed of the Marlboro Studs Jet Pilot colt, Jet Master, who was the best of his age in the Florida area. Last Saturday, at Jamaica, Trick Pilot, another Jet Pilot colt from the stable of Mrs. Vera S. Bragg, scored a victory at five furlongs by six lengths in :59. This youngster outsprinted his field from end to end and had jockey Eddie Arcaro seen fit to urge him, the margin would have been greater. It may be that in Jet Pilot we have one of the most brilliant young sires to come up in recent years. This son of Blenheim II. — Black Wave, by Sir Gallahad III., is standing at Spendthrift Farm, and at the Keeneland Sales last summer, a bay colt by him out of Crepe Myrtle was sold to Harry Car-stens, agent for Mrs. Elizabeth Graham, for 2,000, the highest price paid for a colt anywhere during the season. The Jet Pilots have yet to be tested for staying ability, but if the first two colts we have seen are a criterion, there is hardly a doubt that they are endowed with more than average speed. Mrs. Graham has named the 2,000 colt Jet Jewel and, in all probability, he will make his debut at Belmont Park.
