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SF * «r" 3» BETWEEN RACES by oscar om CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 4. — This will be a column more about people than horses, for great credit for Dark Stars victory in the seventy-ninth Kentucky Derby, a victory in which he defeated the hitherto unbeaten Native Dancer, and at equal weights, is due to jockey Henry Moreno and trainer Eddie Hayward. Moreno is a newcomer to the East riding for Cain Hoy Stable, having left California only three weeks ago at the invitation of Eddie Hayward. Prior to the Keeneland meeting, he had never ridden in Kentucky before, and needless to say, this was his first Kentucky Derby effort. Before the Derby, everyone know that Dark Star was a front runner, as indicated by his sizzling effort in«the mile Derby Trial. Moreno simply used the same .tactics, keeping the horse going along in front, steadying him along early, then pouring it on through the stretch, and with such vigor that he stalled off Native Dancers challenge to the wire. It was a 2:02 flat Derby, certainly an indication from a time standpoint that Dark Star is a horse of far more quality than his previous races would indicate. Moreno rode for Calumet on the West Coast last year, especially during the Hollywood Park season when Eddie Arcaro, who usually gets the choice of Calu-ment stakes mounts, was elsewhere. As we recall it, he rode eight stakes winners at Hollywood Park last summer, including Two Lea, the winner of the Hollywood Park Gold Cup. But at Tanforan this spring, he seemed to run into tough luck in the matter of getting mounts, and, when an offer came to try his luck with Cain Hoy, he packed up and accepted. AAA "I worked for my dad in a barber shop in the Loop in Chicago," says Moreno in outlinging his background to me, "and in that barber shop, there naturally was a lot of Background on Winning Derby Jockey Lonnie Copenhaver Discovered Moreno Spent Long Years Doing Stable Work Hayward Brings Him From California talk about racing. One day a fellow named Lonnie Copenhaver came into the shop, and while I was sweeping up the clippings, got to talking with me, and told me he might make a rider out of me. My size was right, he said, and he added that I looked like an intelligent kid and might be a success. Well, I was all for that, so I went with Lonnie and began the usual round of walking hots and galloping horses. I had never been on a horse before, but Lonnie taught me a lot about it, and before long, I was catching the hang of the thing. But for some reason, Lonnie would never ride me, and I worked for him for years. However, looking back at it now, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I got a good education, and a long one, I might add, in the fundamentals of racing. I didnt get to ride my first winner - until the Alameda County Fair at Pleasanton in 1945. I know your readers in the West know all about Pleasanton, but maybe those this side of the Rockies dont. Well, its a great place, a mile track, and a year-round training track. It is maintained by Sam Whiting and the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, who look upon the year-round thoroughbred center as an asset to the county "and community. The fair comes along every summer, and it is a gala affair, and very popular with the people in the San Francisco metropolitan area. I got a start there, and did okay ever since, until I ran into trouble getitng mounts this spring at Tanforan. AAA "I know Ive never been a flashy rider, but Jimmy Jones seemed to like my work and I would have been rid ing for him more this spring had he been running more horses. Then again, I felt I was getting in a rut in California, and the thought of new pastures, so to speak, appealed to me. It was tough leaving California, as I have a home in Downey, just about half way between Hollywood Park and Santa Anita. Im glad I came now, and am looking forward with great relish toward riding in New York. Eddie Hayward was certainly wonderful to give me this chance." I might add that just prior to the close of the Keeneland meeting, when Moreno and your correspondent had a long, talkative dinner at the Campbell House in Lexington, I asked Eddie Arcaro what he he thought of Moreno as a rider. Said Arcaro: "He is one of the most dependable and best in the business. He should do well in New York and with a stable like Cain Hoy to give him a start he will go a long ways. Ive seen Moreno ride quite a bit at Santa Anita and he does a better job than many give him credit for. Matter of fact, he has steady nerves, does not fluster, and can get a lot of drive out of a horse in the stretch. I most certainly would recommend him to New York owners to give him a try." AAA Moreno is strictly a family man, has two small children, and eschews the bright lights in favor of pleasant evenings at home. He did one thing that is very unusual for a rider, but after he had become a successful pilot, he talked his older brother, Pete, into becoming a rider, too, Pete was working in a Los Angeles sheet metal factory which specialized in making parts for aircraft. He had worked himself up to a "leadman," as such a job is known in the aircraft industry, a straw boss, so to speak, who lays out the work for a crew, then sees that it is done properly. Pete thought a long time about it, for he had to give up a promising career in business to start out from the very Continued on Page Thirty-Six BETWEEN RACES I By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty-Four bottom in a new profession. But Pete finally yielded to brother Henrys tales of how racing was more than just an industry, but a sport, and a way of life. It might also be stated that Pete Moreno also is a successful rider on the West Coast today. So, for the benefit of our readers in the West, we can say that at least part, maybe a great deal, of Dark Stars success in the Derby had a California background. Eddie Hayward, of course, is a well-known conditioner, even though he has not trained out that way for the last two years. AAA We are not going to belabor the point that Native Dancer might have been best as the race was run. for he was in some trouble on the first turn and he had to weave a bit at the final turn, coming from outside to inside. But he was beaten, nevertheless, and he failed to overcome the trouble, if that was the reason. Anyway, because of this, we doubt if Dark Star will receive the full acclaim to which he is due, because regardless of any others in the Derby, or what happened to them, Dark Stars was a big race. We cant help but mention, too, that Dark Star set a Derby precedent when he became the first son of a syndicated stallion to win the race. We have had much to say on the subject of syndicated stallions in the past, and will have more to say in the future, because the subject is at once so timely and engrossing. Suffice to say that Dark Star is a son of Royal Gem n., who stands at the Hermitage Farm of Warner L. Jones, Jr. The syndicate has been "high" on Royal Gem II. for some time, and we learned within minutes after the Derby that at least six people rushed to the Jones box and wanted bookings for mares — good mares — for 1954. We also believe that the selection of Royal Gem n. by Jones, representing himself and the syndicate, from an extended pedigree and pictures, stamps Jones as something better than a green hand at judging stallions. As he explained to us, "Pictures can tell you an awful lot about a horse, even things which the eye might otherwise miss. As you kn.ow, we bought him sight unseen just on the strength of the pictures, for 00,000." All in all, it was a wonderful Derby, and one of the most exciting of recent years, and make no mistake, they all are exciting.
