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WEIGHING By Evan Shipman EN ROUTE TO LOUISVILLE Ky April 30 This is the first time that we have lever sent in a column with a Kentucky date line and for us naturally it is some ¬ thing of an event True we have visited the Blue Grass region often enough in the past but usually it was on a busmans holi ¬ day at the Lexington trots When the great harness horse trainer Thomas W Murphy shifted to the thor ¬ oughbreds taking over le Greentree Stable we did make the trip to Churchill Downs the object of our visit being that famous renewal of the Ken ¬ tucky Jockey Club Stakes in which Mur ¬ phys charge Twenty Grand defeated Equipoise by a nose in the track record time of 136 for the mile Much later dur ¬ ing World War n we were stationed at Fort Knox on the occasion of Shut Outs Derby but we were undergoing basic training and passes were not as easy to wangle then as they seem to have been recently for a certain Pvt Schine SchineA A A A AOur Our one and only opportunity to see a Kentucky Derby did come the next spring when we were stationed right across the Kentucky State line in Tennessee at Camp Campbell We watched Count Flee in his easy score over Blue Swords and the rest through the kindness of Colonel Cornog of the 20th Armored Regt The colonel who had been a great polo player in his time at West Point entertained a natural sym ¬ pathy for horsemen Out of the goodness of his heart he arranged for us to drive a jeep to Louisville that day and the rest was easy Count Fleet was so much the best and we knew it in advance that lit ¬ tle drama was connected with that Derby but we returned to barracks well satisfied that we had seen a great colt and a race that because of Count Fleet would live in the history of the American turf turfA A A A AIf If Count Fleets Derby was conceded him in advance the race we will see tomorrow is by contrast wide open True Correlation is a natural favorite and we believe de ¬ servedly so but there are three or four others engaged for this classic any of whom could win without causing the horsemen in the crowd to bat an eye De ¬ termine Goyamo Hasty Road and per ¬ haps Determines stablemate Allied all have a chance The uncertainty the dra ¬ matic suspense that always attends the running of the Derby is purely and simply because nobdy knows what the favored colts are going to do when they are asked First View of Derby Since 1943 Classic Appears to Be Wide Open Correlation Possesses Surest Form this first time to travel a full mile and a quarter A A A AOther Other great American races such as the Belmont Stakes or the Preakness have rec ¬ ords fully as illustrious as those of the Louisville feature they may even surpass the Derby as tests for successive gener ¬ ations as public festivals dedicated to the thoroughbred However all rival events pale before the Kentucky Derby nor is the reason far to seek In early May when the nations best threeyearolds come to the post for the Derby nobody not their own ¬ ers not their trainers can be sure how they will handle the gruelling mile and a quarter distance This uncertainty is brief following the running of the Derby we will all know a lot of things that we did not know before But for the moment all is blissful ignorance the clouds that obscure reality rosetinged with possibilities possibilitiesA A A A AWhen When it came time to assess this gener ¬ ation last fall our ranking of the juveniles read Porterhouse Turnto Correlation Because of stone bruises Porterhouse has been forced to pass up his Derby engage ¬ ment while the unfortunate Turnto has been permanently retired because of a much more serious mishap a bowed ten ¬ don That leaves Correlation and in the meanwhile the big Calif orniabredand owned colt has nothing to make us ashamed of our early estimate On the con ¬ trary Correlations last two starts and last two victories in the Florida Derby and the Wood Memorial have both been brilliant confirmations of the vast promise he re ¬ vealed last fall fallA A A A AAs As far as breeding is concerned we have no opinion one way or the other in regard to Correlation His pedigree is a great un ¬ known but once that admission is made it can also be stated that the Californians bloodlines obscure as they are dp not place him at a disadvantage visavis the other favored colts Saturday Determines sire Alibhai has never sired a classic win ¬ ner while Goyamo and Allied are by the French sires Goya H and Ambiorix whose get are unknown quantities as yet over the classic distances This Derby is going to establish bloodlines rather than confirm them themA A A A AOpinions Opinions then must be based on indi ¬ viduals rather than on pedigrees Correla ¬ tion is a superb colt and one who performs in exactly the manner you would expect of a Derby winner He has speed but it is speed that can be nursed until his jockey believes the moment opportune He is not discouraged when he finds that others are ready and willing to run with him The way in which Correlation in the recent Wood Memorial waited for Fishermans bid and then disposed of that challenge within the space of a furlong was well worth re ¬ membering Tomorrow as in all his recent stake engagements he will be ridden by Willie Shoemaker a boy who not only understands the colt but who makes per ¬ fect use of his capabilities capabilitiesA A A A ALooking Looking for the one Correlation will have to beat we need not let our eye travel farther down the entries than to little De ¬ termine another Californian at least by adoption and one whose gamecock cour ¬ age has won him the admiration of hard boots and native sons alike Just last Tuesday it was Determine who forced Hasty Road to set a new track mark for the mile here at Churchill Downs and we gather that the spectacle presented by the big son of Roman and the stubborn little Alibhai colt is one that will live long in the memory of all who were in the stands that afternoon afternoonA A A A ASince Since Hasty Road finished a head in front of Determine in the recent Derby Trial why do we mention the runnerups name first Well because a mile as we have said is not a mile and a quarter and because we have a sneaking feeling that Determine will outstay his rival at the longer distance Then too we are con ¬ vinced that there is no more handy colt than this same Determine in a large field of horses such as is sure to go to the post Saturday and sure to encumber thet rack for at least a half mile Like one of the great little men of boxing Determine is light and shifty on his feet gifted with in ¬ stant reflexes and able to take advantage of any opening in a flash These are vir ¬ tues that count in a Kentucky Derby DerbyA A A A AAs As far as sheer intelligence is con ¬ cerned we have never seen a thorough ¬ bred who impressed us more than De ¬ termine unless it is Native Dancer But if Native Dancer had been gifted with the little fellows agility he would never have been beaten by Dark Star last May Well this is another Derby and another field and they are all good until they prove otherwise its a lot easier and more prof ¬ itable to write about them after the race than before the race That admitted we are rooting for Determine but common sense whispers that the result may well be Cor ¬ relation Determine and Goyamo
