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:. M - ■ ■■* J "-: JUDGES STAND *y CHARLES HATT0N CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville. Ky., May 1. — This seventy-ninth Derby promising to be especially memorable, for it brings together the elite of what apparently is a particularly good crop of three-year-olds. And the betting is that Native Dancer will emerge from it as one of the great competitors of all time. He has arrived at the crossroads in his career, meeting some new and accomplished rivals, over the American classic distance of a mile and one-quarter. But he strikes us as the most plausible choice in this "Run for the Roses," and we well remember Bimelech, El Chico and the teachings of Gregor Mendel. Native Dancer seems to have done famously since coming to Churchill Downs, far removed from his New York stamping ground. Several trainers timed him a final quarter in :22% in his public mile trial over the track, and he was pulling Bernie Everson out of the saddle. It would be strange if a colt having his fluent action could not handle almost any going. He is aptly named not only as a son of Polynesian and Geisha, but also because the way he moves in choreography. The question arises if Native Dancer wins the "Triple Crown" and equals Colin s challenging record of being undefeated in 15 starts, or perhaps going him one better, would A. G. Vanderbilt forthwith retire him. But it is a big "if," and Vanderbilt wisely prefers to "wait until he wins them." - The Calif ornian, Correspondent, occurs as the most dangerous of Native Dancers rivals in this Derby. Of the Blue Grass Stakes, Eddie Arcaro says, "He really won it big," and so it appeared to this observer. We should think that the favorite and Correspondent would have to engage in a senseless speed duel awfully early in the race for any of the stretch runners to pick them up in this mile and a quarter. Dancer Most Plausible Rose Run Choice Sagamorean Requires, Gets Special Care Winfrey Discusses Some Training Methods Derby Still Most Colorful Show in Sports It seems to us that Bill Winfrey has done all a trainer can for a horse in bringing Native Dancer up to his engagement in tomorrows classic. The Sagamorean has so captivated sports lovers he has become something of a public trust, and we can tell you that he is in safe hands. This corner has known Winfrey since first he took out a trainers license, about 20 years ago and he always has been a hard working, conscientious horseman. Derby Week here at Louisville has been wearing, both for Winfrey and Native Dancer, what with hundreds of newsmen, photographers and TV crews beating a path to their door. The trainer has been most cooperative and helpful, and when a reporter thanked him for an interview this morning, he philosophized, "Well, when you fellows do not come around any more, I am going to begin to wonder about my horses." Occasionally during the week, there were some requests for what photographers call feature shots, or human interest shots of The Dancer with which Winfrey could not comply and serve the best interests of his horse. For example, many horses may be photographed looking out over the webbing of a stall. But the bottom door of the Vanderbilt colts stall must remain closed when he is occupying it and the screen at the top closed. The bottom door is closed because he has a habit of sleeping with his feet in the aisle and might cast himself. The top because when he get his head outside the stall, he wants all the way out and lunges at it. So such photographs of Native Dancer are taboo. Also impossible. during Derby Week at least, were posed photos involving leading him out of his box at unaccustomed hours. He is such a playful big fellow that he would not stand at the end of a shank long before it occured to him it might be fun to rear up and get a leg over the shank. This could result either in injury to a tendon or a runaway. One rather guileful chap suggested perhaps Native Dancer would be grazed sometime during the day, but he has not had a blade of grass all week. There is a reasonable reason for this too, for it would have the effect of starting him scouring, or perhaps he would contract the cough from some other horse who grazed there. To repeat, he is in the hands of a trainer who is well qualified to care for such a tremendous public favorite. AAA Discussing the training of horses generally, Winfrey said that he "trains by the weather mostly." This week has been unseasonably cold, and Native Dancer and Social Outcast have been sponged rather than washed, but in the summer on Long Island, when there is no danger horses will be chilled, they enjoy and get plenty of baths. They also are grazed, but in the private Vanderbilt stable area, where a special grass is grown from seed obtained from the University of Pennsylvania. Winfrey is a great believer in sunshine itself for his horses, rather than the vitamins. Though he has been preoccupied of late with the Derby favorite, he has not neglected his other trainees. The stakes filly, Hula, a three-year-old daughter of Polynesian and Now What, was blistered about the knees recently and may return to action later in the season. She was foaled with her knees not quite plumb and they have given her some trouble. The Dancers two-year-old gray half-brother by Amphitheatre bucked training at Continued en Page Thirty-Six | I JUDGES STAND By CHARLES HATTON Continued from Pag* Sixty-Four Sagamore but it will be interesting to see how he fares when he comes to the races this summer. AAA The Derby always has been a good show," and in a bull session with "Red" Smith, Prank Graham, Don Pair and Brownie Leach at dinner, somebody observed that one colorful and dramatic sidelight has been missing from it in late years. This is the spectacle of 12,000 or 15,000 youths who had climbed the back fence rushing across the backstretch into the innerfield despite the concerted efforts of mounted police to stem the tide. Many of the patrons who make a dignified entrance as cash customers today will reflect with amusement they as a boy saw the Derby in this way. Col. Matt Winn did not seem to mind too much. But we are afraid some of the lads, having gained the innerfield, were dissatisfied with this vantage point and hurtled the rails of the front stretch into the clubhouse and grandstand crowds. This impelled the management to take steps, in the interest of the public weal, and now the Derby crowds are more orderly. No longer do they stampede into the homestretch of the race course proper as the horses finish and press thousands deep about the winner. Behave Yourself was fortunate to have any tail left upon his return to the Bradley barn, souvenir hunters risking a kick to snatch a memento of the occasion. Though the gate crashing which so entertained Derby crowds of years gone by has given way to regimentation and decorum, the Derby still may boast more color and pageantry, studied as it may be, than any other sporting event in America. AAA Turf ana: Correspondents sire and dam both returned to training after serving at stud. . Bill Winfrey flew from Los Angeles to San Francisco last fall in an effort to recover Orientation, who had been claimed for ,500, for Sagamores stud, but this half-sister to Native Dancer was not available*. . .Numerous strings now at the Downs will depart for Lincoln-at-Hawthorne, Detroit and Pimlico. . .The Derby always will be first of the "Triple Crown" events, a circumstance which assures its peculiar significance, bringing together the championship contenders from all areas for their encounter . . . Money Broker is a prospect for Lincolns Peabody Memorial.
