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BETWEEN RACES By OSCAR OTIS CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky April 30 A B Hancock Jr best known to his friends as Bull is one of Americas great bloodstock farm operators his Claibome Farm in Bourbon County being world fa ¬ mous In addition he is carrying on a family tradition of fine bloodstock production founded back in the war between the states days He is an active leader in Ameri ¬ can racing affairs being a member of the Kentucky State Racing Commission Breeders Sales executive com ¬ mittee etc To this authoritative source therefore we put the question Why is the Kentucky Derby regarded as the greatest test of breeding Hancock replied The Derby is the greatest test of the potential of a sire because of its peculiar timing along with its prestige The distance of a mile and a quarter early in May is an exacting one for at once a winner must be able to stay and also have enough speed to get a position early and hold it In gen ¬ eral it may be stated that to win the Derby a horse must have two runs and only really good horses have that ability It takes a pretty precocious threeyearold to bring home the Derby but that is exactly what makes it the great test that it is because the American racing system due to costs is based on precociousness Based on the same reasoning the Kentucky Derby Preakness and Belmont as a unit is the greatest test of breeding that American racing affords and it is not by accident these races are dubbed the American classics or came to be grouped as the Triple Crown CrownA A A A AThe The popularity of winter racing has not altered the basic greatness of the Kentucky Derby from a breeders point of view I do believe the American system will tend Jo Jopprodurathe pprodurathe soundest breed of horses in the world Hancock Cites Reasons for Derby Prestige Declares Horse Must Have to Run to Win Has Right to Claim as Being True Classic Many Madden Sayings Have Derby Bearing How many times for instance did such European cham ¬ pions as Tulyar Pinza and Bahram start Our horses to ¬ day start earlier and go longer than they do in Europe and race much more often John E Madden was right when he said opinions die but records live A check of the Derby and the other classic races reveals that the results of the race eliminating all excuses will justify the results and not the alibis You may see a horse who you think was best who would have won if but those same ifs show up in the stud records with relentless regularity When I studied genetics at Princeton I was a student of the brilliant Dr Schull who ha made a lifetime study of the subject and who was able to get some sound theories from life with comparatively few genes and chromosomes which made the study easier I learned and I believe that all breeds of anything tend to return to the mean or average My father works on the same idea that the family is dominant the individual subordinate and it proves out in thoroughbreds and certainly is in ¬ disputable in other kinds of livestock The Derby offers Americas greatest opportunity to test the blood under the rigorous circumstances I have outlined at level weights I have no quarrel with handicaps but for the breeder and the breed there is no substitute for a Ken ¬ tucky Derby DerbyA A A A AAs As you know John E Madden bred fine Derby win ¬ ners and owned one and his early Derby influence was tremendous You ask me if all the sayings credited to him are true and I answer that they are As a youngster I used to talk with Madden by the hour and watched as he sold horses in the summer at Saratoga He was a great man to take time out to teach younger people the sport and he had the faculty for putting down his ideas into words that you never forgot As we would say today he was always coining phrases But it is true that when he was selling he could make the phrase hit his mood For instance if the horse he wanted to sell were small he might say if size were everything the cow would beat the rabbit every time But if the horse were big he might next remark big horses are like big turnips hollow in ¬ side Or again a good big horse can beat a good little horse every time But while he wasnt entirely consistent as perhaps nobody is entirely he did symbolize turf sound practice in words that never will be forgotten Speaking of Madden and the Derby how true it is and has been his saying Speed is like a loaded shotgun dangerous in anybodys hands handsA A A A AAs As a Blue Grass breeder I still think it something of a miracle that I can sit in my home at Claiborne and watch many of the big races on television races in which perhaps a horse from Claiborne is competing Of course Im here to see the Derby personally but a breeder cant be everywhere and tend to his farm at the same time But when I reckon back to the old days in Virginia when the race results came but once a week in the Spirit of the Times and that by rail to Charlotte where we had to ride or drive a cart to pick it up I realize that the wonder of TV is bringing racing closer to the American public and that it has become an instrument for the accom accomContinued Continued on Page SixtyThree A BETWEEN RAGES 11 11By By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page SixtyFour SixtyFourplishment plishment of untold benefits for the sport I am told that more than 2000000 will see the Derby on television but just think what will happen when color TV becomes standard Thus the Derby as well as serv ¬ ing the best interests of proving up the breed also will become the leader as per ¬ haps it already is in presenting racing to the American public in color which will give the people the Derby in all of its glory as enjoyed by the hundred thousand or so lucky enough to witness the event in per This corner once again through Bull Hancock confirms an original report from California from Ben Jones that any no ¬ tions that the Derby cracks up horses is a rank canard and perhaps as we think may be a mental crutch for people with in ¬ ferior threeyearolds to make excuses for their horses inferiority without really ad ¬ mitting it to themselves This of course is a variation of the well known fable of the fox and the sour grapes While it is true that an individual trainer might knock a horse out getting ready for the Derby but this is the fault as Jones so clearly proved of the individual certainly not of the Derby As for the Derby magnitude as a breeding test we were well aware of its lofty pinnacle for many years ago John Hervey was insistent upon the same point But Hancock has explained it in a down to earth way which is easy to grasp The fact that the Derby is such a test and of such supreme importance may not be given much thought by the casual race fan but he understands this subconsciously or else he would not give the Derby such devotion or homage I will concede that the Derby is the best publicized and best known race in America but as every public relations man knows he must have a product that is worthy or all the publicity in the world will not sell it Because the Derby is such a towering race in proving up or disproving the breeding trends of America it has al ¬ most automatically created its own public esteem Therefore we feel along with Han ¬ cock that the Derby was not created by publicity but just the reverse the great race taitomatlcatty bfQtifhtsSouttiHienmn lions of words ot copy that are written about it each year plus countless billions we suppose of words in man to man con ¬ versation and discussion In summing up in part on Hancocks remarks it might be said that in the case of the Derby instead of may the best horse win in the interests of clean sport and fair play the best horse usually does win It so proves up in the progeny Tomorrows Derby therefore will have a profound influence on gener ¬ ations of thoroughbreds yet unborn and who are destined to furnish sporting pleas ¬ ure for the race fans of the rears ahead
