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ARROZ The Californiaowned and bred brown colt is the Far Wests sole reliance for the Derby honors Californians Are Rooting for Arroz No PacificBred and Raced Horse Has Taken Big Event Invasion From Area on Downs Began in 1904 When Elwood Came East to Win Classic ClassicCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 2 It is our personal opinion that just one score in the Kentucky Derby for a Cali ¬ forniabred owned and winterraced horse would do much to stimulate truly nation ¬ wide breeding interest in the Derby and while the West Coast has been an influence in a great many past Derbys no horse who was both bred and raced on the Pacific slope has ever scored Maybe the chance will come tomorrow maybe not but West Coasters will keep trying until they do ac ¬ complish the feat and once accomplished will try again and again to repeat repeatThe The last California representative in the Derby was Your Host who in 1950 went to the post the favorite by reason of his brilliant speed his record of achievement on the West Coast and his smashing triumph in a race called the Scarlet Gate at Keeneland Actually the Derby was the only major race in his career in which Your Host ran a bad one and to this day there is no accounting for it itUnaccountably Unaccountably Poor Race RaceIt It was said later that Your Host was not a true mile and a quarter horse but this still would not account for his failure to stay out in front further than he did didTomorrows Tomorrows California hope is the stretch running Arroz owned by Mr and Mrs Gordon Guiberson of San Francisco The colt a son of War Glory from the Sir Gal lahad m mare Galladee was raised on historic California acreage part ol the old James Ben Ali Haggin acreage Rancho del Paso on the northern outskirts of the state capitol Sacramento Unlike Your Host he is strictly a comefrombehinder a true stretch runner and a horse with all the earmarks of a stayer stayerThe The assault of California and the far West Coast upon the Derby began in 1904 when Elwood left old Ascot Park near Los Angeles after a winter campaign and won the Derby for Mr and Mrs C E Durnell But Elwood was a Kentuckybred not a true Calif ornian ornianIt It was not until many years later 1922 to be exact that a Californian won Mor vich leading Bet Mosie and John Finn from wire to wire But Morvich while bred at Napa County by A B Spreckels was a true homebred he was sold as a yearling to New York broker Benjamin Block and was trained and raced in the East Morvich remains the only Californiabred ever to have won the Derby and while there is some satisfaction to Californians in that it is not satisfying to Golden Staters For one thing it is too long ago and does not reflect the great breeding strides made since the renaissance of racing since the legalization of the sport in 1934 Cannon Shot Ridden by Ellis EllisCharlie Charlie Hartwell who is now racing a stable at Caliente Mexico thought enough of a Californiabred Cannon Shot to pay 30000 for him and send him back in 1924 Jockey George Ellis another West Coast fixture rode him but the best Cannon Shot could do was finish twelfth to Black Gold GoldFrom From then on West Coastowned horses were fairly frequently seen in Derby line ¬ ups among them being Naishapur in 1929 who finished second to Clyde Van Dusen Walter H Hoffmans Longgus sixth in 1930 Norman W Churchs Gallant Sir eighth in 1932 Sunset Trail n owned by Raoul Walsh of Hollywood directing fame six ¬ teenth in 1937 Myron Selznicks Cant Wait third to Lawrin and Dauber in 1938 Staretor owned by the orange drink king Hugh S Nesbitt second to Whirlaway in 1941 the Oregonbred but California owned Mioland fourth to the California winterraced Gallahadion in 1940 With Regards owned by T D Pinky Grimes an unlucky fourth in 1942 1942E E C A Berger Los Angeles turfman also had a starter in 1942 Boot and Spur which finished last In 1944 two more homebreds went to the Derby Mrs George Poulsens Broadcloth who finished second and Erlanger Stables Shut Up who was fourth Charlie Howard made another try for the Derby in 1945 with Sea Swallow while in 1947 Harry Warner was unsuc ¬ cessful with Stepfather and W L Sickle SickleBut But that same year may have started the modern era of really pitching for Cali ¬ fornia because Earl O Stice of Eagle Rock flew On Trust to the Derby thereby creating a bit of history and On Trust was by no means disgraced running fourth to Jet Pilot Phalanx and Faultless and was beaten only two heads and a length lengthMrs Mrs John Payson Adams of San Fran ¬ cisco and San Jose raced Grandpere in 1948 but she didnt have any hopes of Grandpere beating Citation and so it turned out outWhich Which brings us down to Your Host We have not listed all the West Coast owned or raced horses which came back for the Derby although one worthy of a line was Gallahadion distanced in the Santa Anita Derby of 1940 but who proved a longshot winner of the Kentucky Classic Looking back California has sent only a few of its best horses to the Derby be cause it wasnt often that the best horse or horses was owned by a Golden Stater who was Derby minded There is a wide ¬ spread myth on the West Coast that ship ¬ ping a horse east over the Rockies as they put it has a tendency to throw a horse off form and hence does not allow him to display his true worth While this has been true in a number of cases it is not a rule to our way of thinking if only for the reason that it has been disproved Continued on Page FortyFive Arroz Hope of California Fans In 100000 Classic Today TodayContinued Continued from Page TwentyFour TwentyFourtoo too many times Properly handled and shipping at the right time a horse can hold his form after crossing the mountains from west to east eastLast Last years winner was a good example Count Turf was bred and foaled in Ken ¬ tucky was sent to California as a late weanling on the theory of his breeder that while the blood might be in Kentucky the sunshine was in Riverside County and that foals would do better there In any event Count Turf grew up in California then was shipped back to Saratoga for the sales was broken and introduced to racing in Florida and still won the Kentucky Derby in one of the fastest years on record recordWe We think another reason is that Cali I fornia racing is a yearround proposition and it takes a great inducement for a Cali fornian to ship east In the case of the Derby the greatest consideration in ship ¬ ping is prestige Whether the chance at prestige is worth the risk ir a question that each owner can answer only to him himj j self selff f In our opinion California has sent only three really first class horses east for the 1 Derby and in this statement we are of course Deserving judgment on Arroz until after the race tomorrow We refer to Your Host whose failure to run even near his good form is unexplainable On Trust who was fourth and Ervast who shipped in 1929 but did not start due to an injury Ervast was owned bred and raced by Baron Long and he was about as good a horse as has ever been raised in California His injury at Raceland was heartbreaking
