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■QK? -yT ~" ~ BETWEEN RACES * osc* om CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 3. — From truck driver to pilot of a Kentucky Derby winner in the space of less than 18 months is a distinct dramatic possibility of this, the seventy-seventh Kentucky Derby, come Saturday afternoon. The truck driving jockey is not shooting at the moon moon either, either, for for his his name name is is Ray Ray- ~" ~ moon moon either, either, for for his his name name is is Ray Ray- mond Adair, and hes on a horse a lot of people believe is the horse entitled to true Derby favoritism, C. V. Whitneys Mameluke. Adair, you may recall, rode Mameluke to victory in one division of the Blue Grass Stakes over at Keeneland without the help of one stirrup, which broke as the field left the gate for that nine-furlong trip. "Its not a long story about my driving a truck not so many months ago," explains Adair, "so maybe Id better start from the beginning. I grew up in one of the most historic horse centers in the nation, near a town called Payson, Ariz. Never heard of Payson? Well, it consists of a general store, a post office and one saloon, and the saloon is a relic of the old wild west days, with bullet holes still visible all over the place. Its in the center of the Tonto Basin, where Geronimo made his last stand against the U. S. Cavalry. Anyway, thats where I started to ride, and I branched out into quarter races all through the Southwest. I first came to a recognized track at Caliente, in old Mexico, that track where so many apprentices got their start. Rode my first winner there, and then came east. I also spent quite a bit of time at the old J. P. Atkin ranch in San Ysidro, near the Mexican border, learning about thoroughbreds on the farm. AAA "Since then, Ive ridden with some success, but never on the big tracks of California. I was supposed to ride Truck Driver to Pilot Mameluke in Derby Adair Makes Switch From Diesel to Saddle Learned Riding in Arizonas Tonto Basin McCreary Also Making Comeback in Saddle Wedding Call in the 00,000 Santa Anita Handicap, but got hurt. About a year and a half ago I got a broken back. It put me out of the saddle, of course, and just about out of commission. After recuperating from the back injury, I didnt want to return to the tracks for a while, so took a job wheeling a big diesel truck on long runs. Mostly, it was hauling tobacco. The police often stopped my truck to check its weight, and most of them were surprised to see a small fellow like me crawl out of the cab. Driving the truck did get me back in condition, however, and I went to Florida last winter and resumed galloping horses. J. P. Smith gave me a chance to ride, and I won with my first mount in my comeback attempt. Smith told me, when he was getting ready to ship north, that inasmuch as he had other riders, he couldnt use me as much as he would like, suggested that I try Syl Veitch. He was good enough to not only use me, but give me a chance with Mount Marcy at Keeneland, and with Mameluke in the Blue Grass. Im certainly thrilled to be riding Mameluke in the Derby this Saturday, as you might well imagine." AAA If wordage about the event is any criterion, the seventy-seventh Derby will be the most successful ever raced. At least this is the opinion of Bill Iredale, the Western Union man who has charge of the flow of news from the press box. Iredale has been keeping tabs on word volume of the many writers on hand to cover the Derby for their papers, strung throughout the nation, and advises that at present volume, the all time high of last year, 315,900 words on the Derby running itself, and 656,700 for Derby week, will be surpassed by a wide margin. In 1944, a mere 119,110 words were used by the press box to inform their readers of the Derby, and only 240,310 words were filed press rate on the whole Derby week. The Iredale graphs show a steady increase every year, and this season, the verboseness may surpass the 750,000 word mark. It would, no doubt, reach more, because the writers have been hard pressed to present the pre-Derby picture in its entirety simply because there have been so many horses mentioned as Derby starters, except for the fact that stories must stop somewhere through sheer space limitations. The classic Derby story, of course, was filed by the sports editor of a large daily when newsprint was plentiful and cheap, and, after rambling through 10 solid columns of type, he concluded his epic by apologizing for not painting a more complete Derby picture because of space limitations. AAA There never has been a Derby horse left at the post, even in the days of the open barrier, and, going back to 1903, the first Derby ever to carry a complete form chart, one finds only one bad start, that of 1912, and one poor, in 1903. And, since 1903, only three horses have failed to finish. Busy American broke down in 1922, Liberty Limited did the same thing in 1932, and Granville lost his rider in 1936. Good Advice was beaten so far in 1933 that he was eased. Senecas Coin was called "pulled up" in 1949, but Senecas Coin actually finished the race. He was so tardy, however, that he encountered crowds of people on the track streaming toward the winners Continued on Page Thirty-Three of ft it ;r ie :e B jr r is y, is h 10 m Id a a ?r ie ig r- is be e h e, c. e, f- •e it ie il, ig BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS 1 Continued from Page Forty circle when he came down to near the wire. He must have been beaten a good half- mile. Senecas Coin is perhaps the worst Derby horse of modern times. Checking far back as 1920, one is hard pressed find a really mediocre horse that competed in the race. A few, yes, but in the main, tremendous percentage of horses who were also rans, some beaten off quite a ways, went on to measures of fame afterwards. A " * Conn McCreary quit the saddle last June, e, feeling depressed and blue. He was at a a low ebb, physically, and seriously debated d hanging up his tack for good. The short rt 4 foot, 8 inch McCreary went fishing in n Florida, took life easy, and felt so good d that by winter time he returned to racing, I, first galloping horses, then riding. Mc- :- Creary has the zip of his apprentice year ix again, and his form was so good that J. J. J. Amiel, the New York restaurateur and sta- ,- ble owner, prevailed upon trainer Sol Rut- ;- chick to give McCreary a chance with h Count Turf in the Derby. So, come bugle le time on Saturday, and McCreary will be in n the irons on this able son of Count Fleet. t. McCreary and Amiel checked in at the ie Downs on Monday so that the boy could d ride, and the owner watch, Count Turf in n the Derby Trial. They discovered, much to o n - e J 5t as m to 0 d a a .e Sf s e, a a d rt in n d I, :- ix J. J. ,- ;- h le in n t. ie d in n to o their surprise, that Count Turf was not eligible. Hence they are relying upon works to fit Count Turf for his Derby engage- ment. McCreary rode Pensive to victory for trainer Ben Jones in 1944 over a good and drying out race track. "I walked twice around the track the morning of the race," recalls McCreary, "while Ben Jones rode a ■ pony. We picked out the bad spots, which 1 helped a lot during the running." Amiel, who got Count Turf for ,750 at the Sara- toga Sales, bid on the Count Fleet — Del- - marie offering because the colt looked like Count Fleet. "I would have gone to more B than 2,000 to get him," says Amiel. "I I wasnt too high on the dam, but figured Count Fleet was the first really top sire to d which she had been bred, and thus might have produced a real runner." . I " * r,
