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JOCKEY EDDIE ARCARO— Tries for No. 6 today with Correspondent. l*g**»S5K3||j| Arm ,4*fe«fe««« Another Churchill Downs Garden Scene with totalisator board in background. .Derby Winning -Jockey Roster Lists Names of Sixty-Three Arcaro Leads Exclusive List * With Five Wins; Murphy, Sande Won Race Thrice CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 1. — One of the most exclusive "rosters" in the world is that giving the names of Jockeys who have won the Kentucky Derby. As the 79th Derby impends, the record shows but 63 different riders gaining that honor. Granted that the Derby did not begin to attain its present day prestige and grandeur until its direction was taken over by the late Col. Matt J. Winn, there was a long succession of renewals of the race. Riders who were able to pilot winners in the early era are entitled to great honor to this very day. For they were building tradition, whether they realized it or not. One jockey, Eddie Arcaro, has been able to score with five Derby winners, and he is seeking his sixth tomorrow astride Mrs. Gordon Guibersons Correspondent. Two riders, Earl Sande and Isaac Murphy, each have three to their credit, while only seven others can claim doubles, Alfred Johnson, Charlie Kurtsinger, Johnny Loftus, Linus "Pony" McAtee, Conn McCreary, Willie Simms and J. Winkfield. It is axiomatic in racing that Arcaro is dangerous with every horse he rides, especially in a big money stake like the Derby. How far he can extend his record before he hangs up his tack is a guess, and how long his record will stand is another, for it also is axiomatic that records are made to be broken. Five Wins in Thirteen Tries Arcaros five winners to date were racked up in no less than 13 tries. He has ridden in every Derby since 1944. He had no mount in 1943. After his first Derby effort, a fourth on Nellie Flag in 1935, he won with Herb Woolfs Lawrin in 1938, then had no mounts in 1939 or 1940. He came back in 1941 to win with the defunct Whirlaway. Since 1944, he has not missed a Derby. His wins have been exactly matched by his "unplaced horses" and by that we mean worse than third. He was sixth with Battle Morn in 1951, sixth with Olympia in 1949, fourth with Lord Boswell in 1946, sixth with Devil Diver in 1942, and fourth, as mentioned, with Nellie Flag. The 1942 running may be said to have won national fame for Arcaro. In this race he had his choice of mounts for the Green-tree Stable, Shut Out or Devil Diver. He chose the latter while Shut Out went on to win, ridden out by Wayne Wright, from Alsab and Valdina Orphan. Arcaro was twice second in the Derby, with Hill Prince in 1950 and Phalanx in 1947. Middleground proved just too much horse for Hill Prince, but the 1947 running was a real thriller with three heads on the wire, Jet Pilot, Phalanx and Faultless, in that order. Phalanx was literally flying at the end. Arcaros only third in the Derby was on Stir Up in 1944, this horse finishing rather deeply to Pensive and Broadcloth. All in all, it is rather a remarkable record, and one which easily could be enhanced in tomorrows running. Apprentices Seldom Get Mounts All races are tough to win, but especially the Derby. In only the last 20 runnings, almost every great rider has taken one or 1 — _ more flings at it. Apprentices seldom get a mount, although two did score in the Derby. Willie Boland won with Middle-ground and Ira Hanford with Bold Venture. Owners and trainers of starters prefer older hands of mature judgment. Here are the winning riders for the last 20 years, other than Arcaro: Conn McCreary, Boland, Steve Brooks, Eric Guerin, Warren Mehrtens, Johnny Longden, Wright, Carroll Bierman, Jimmy Stout, Charlie Kurtsinger, Hanford, Willie Saun- ders, Mack Garner, Don Meade and Eugene James. Among the old-time greats who have won were Isaac Murphy, the first rider ever to ride more than one Derby winner; Vincent Powers, Sande, Alfred Johnson, McAtee, Carroll Schilling, Chick Lang and Roscoe Goose. Any boy in any race anywhere is under strong pressure from three fronts, the public, his stable and his will to win. Top flight race-riding makes strong nerves a necessity over any period of time. The three pressures are so intensified for a Derby, that it takes a strong rider, or an old hand, not to get a case of the jitters before the race. All feel that the eyes of America are upon them, and since the advent of television, this is literally true. Much at Stake The Derby stakes are truly stupendous. For the rider it can mean eternal fame, for the owner prestige, for the trainer added glory and a greater reputation, and for the horse a far greater chance at stud than otherwise might be afforded him. This, in addition to the money involved. A victory in the Kentucky Derby seems to transcend the consideration of money. To get back to Arcaro, his record of five wins, capped by last years victory on Hill Gail, has made him a stellar Derby day attraction in his own right. While he doesnt quite equal the horse in that respect, he nevertheless has a special claim of his own. Arcaro during the last two years has been riding better than at any time in his life, and he always has been good. For instance, last year, he rode no less than 38 stake winners, and would have beaten Earl Sandes all-time record of 39 in one year had he elected. He was not interested in breaking this record, per se, and took a long vacation in Europe in the fall. When he returned to action at Santa Anita, he made the headlines on the Coast all winter by riding the winners of four 00,000 races on the Santa Anita schedule. His ride on Chanlea was his greatest demonstration of riding skill during the season. He literally lifted Chanlea over the line. In connection with Derby riders, it might be mentioned that the old order in racing is slowly changing, and more and more major stables are going in for free lance riders, engaging the best available at the moment rather than keeping a regular rider under contract. By the same token, more and more riders in the top brackets are refusing contracts, and are riding free lance. This, in turn, has tended to make Derby riding more competitive than ever, for there is a scramble among the best riders for the best mounts long before the actual running of the race itself. Free-Lancing for Years Arcaro, for instance, has been free-lancing for years. While this trend is more noticeable in the far west than in the east, it is a trend nationally, nevertheless. In cash, a winning Derby ride nets the jockey 10 per cent of the net purse, a figure depending, of course, upon the number of starters. It usually is about 0,000. Sometimes a rider can get a little lucky in this matter, though. In the 1947 Derby, for instance, Mrs. Elizabeth Graham thought she would be so happy to win the Derby that she prom- ised Guerin double his fee if he won with Jet Pilot. Guerin did just that, and while the normal fee would have been ,216, Mrs. Graham was as good as her word and paid Guerin 8,432. For 1:26% seconds of effort over a slow and spotty race track, it was a princely reward, and so far as we know, the highest riding fee, not only in the Derby but in any race ever run in the United States.
