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C V WHITNEY Ownerbreeder of Career Boy and Head Man Starting Field of Seventeen In 167550 Kentucky jj Derby jj FloridaBred Needles Rules Favorite In Richest Renewal of Downs Classic Calumets Fabius Pintor Lea And Whitneys Career Boy Head Man Also Well Fancied FanciedBy By OSCAR OTIS OTISCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 4 Seventeen three yearblds will meet here Saturday in the eightysecond running of the Kentucky Derby before more than 100000 fans the largest crowd to view a racing classic in this country It will be by far the richest Derby in the stakes history with a gross of 167550 and a 123450 net to the winner if 17 start It also looms as the most puzzling renewal in our memory for a question mark follows each and every starter No horse in the race is really solid including the favorite the Floridabred Needles NeedlesReaping Reaping Reward Will Not Race RaceWhile While Reaping Right is listed in the overnights as a starter in the Derby he will not go to the post because he rapped himself during a morning blowout Thurs ¬ day Inasmuch as his entry already was on file the stewards ruled that he had passed the entry box and hence was sub ¬ ject to the 250 fee to so pass the box He also drew in for post position While trainer V R Wright announced this morn ¬ ing that the Louisiana Derby winner would be withdrawn he always could change his mind if the horse made a miraculous recovery from his cuts cutsThe The multitudes of people pouring into Louisville for the mile and one quarter classic sense this and difference of opinion is more widespread than ever before Its an open Derby in the truest sense even to the track conditions which remain in doubt and at the mercy of elemental whims which turned fast Friday afternoon Though Needles appears to be a solid favorite at 2tol the fact remains that he has not started in some six weeks since his winning effort in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park to be specific and has Winner Will Earn Net Purse Of 123450 in TenFurlong Test Expect Record Crowd Crowdbeen been until the last few mornings extreme ¬ ly rank in his late daylight drills drillsIt It is admittedly true that while he has been a tough horse to train and that Hugh Fontaine has done a masterful job with the son of Derby winner Ponder and a grandson of another Derby winner Pen ¬ sive his lack of actual racing has injected an element of mystery into his potential effort Saturday that defies analysis on the part of the public publicStill Still and all when you try to get a solid horse to beat Needles you run into the same basic problems only with differ ¬ ent aspects aspectsCalumet Calumet Farms Fabius who together with Pintor Lea will be rated as second choice at 3tol presents a moot question of many ramifications Fabius has won his three starts since reaching Kentucky but whether he can carry his admitted speed over the gruelling mile and onequarter distance with his weight up is a question remaining to be answered answeredFabius Fabius has an advantage in being rid ¬ den by the sensational Willie Hartaek and everyone knows that Willie will get every ounce of run out of the horse Yet he was doing his best winning the Derby Trial at a mile only last Tuesday under 112 pounds 14 pounds less than he must shoul ¬ der Saturday SaturdayPintor Pintor Lea presents an equally perplex ¬ ing problem for he has a trick knee which became sore at Keeneland and debarred him from racing to expectations Yet prompt therapy put him back in the Derby lineup after Calumet Farm had just about given up on him and had indicated he was as good as out outAs As against this fans well realize the Derby ability of the Jones boys Ben and Jimmy whose Derby record is incom ¬ parable Ben has had six Derby winners and while Jimmy is listed as the trainer this year of both Fabius and Pintor Lea the actual training of this Calumet team has been a true joint effort effortThe The third choice in the race the C V Whitney entry of Head Man and Career Boy at 4 to 1 poses problems of an en ¬ tirely different nature Career Boy was dated the best twoyearold of 1955 in Jimmy Kilroes Experimental Handicap and was coming up to the Derby perfectly until the Blue Grass Stakes in which he finished second to a nonDerby eligible Toby B BA A few days after the race here at Chur ¬ chill Downs it was discovered that he had a bruised foot and an emergency operation was made to relieve the pressure and drain the pus He appears to have recovered but there still is an element of doubt as to whether he is at his peak plus the addi ¬ tional complicating factor that he isnt supposed to relish the mud Owner C V Continued on Page 90 167550 Derby Draws Starters FloridaBred Needles Choice In Richest Running of Classic Calumets Fabius Pintor Lea And Whitney Stables Career Boy Head Man Loom Threats ThreatsContinued Continued from Page 1 D DWhitney Whitney will make the final decision as to starting this one if the track is off offHead Head Man the stablemate has shown good speed but his staying powers are still open to question Balanced against this is the presence of the great Eddie Arcaro in the stirrups And Eddie is as much a Derby jockey as the Jones boys are Derby trainers And Eric Guerin on Career Boy of course is a top flight pilot and has ample Derby experience We will now take every other named horse in the Derby and briefly analyze his bold points and his potential weaknesses and let the reader balance them for himself Finished Second to Needles NeedlesCount Count Chic the California flyer showed signs of potential greatness by a great sec ¬ ond to Needles in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park but his only Kentucky effort in the Trial could have been better betterHigh High King trained by Tom Barry has no early speed but can run strongly through the stretch and Barry tells us he shipped him here because he thought he had a real chance But the Belmont will really catch him says Barry Watch out for him then at a mile and onehalf onehalfNo No Regrets is hard to figure If you take him off his winning form in the Califor ¬ nia Derby at Tanforan hes sure to be a contender for he is hard hitting and game Yet his Triabrace showed him clearly to be short and hed have to run better than he did on Tuesday to win a Kentucky Derby DerbyBen Ben A Jones beat Swoons Son in the mud one day in Chicago is stout hearted and11 is spot for seekers of price Yet his good races are somewhat balanced out by an unexpected poor showing in the Trial but since Tuesday he has come back to work smartly Hes definitely a question mark markBesomer Besomer goes into the Derby off Mary ¬ land form which part owner and trainer Colin Sandy MacLeod thought was worthy enough to entitle him to a chance at the Derby But cold facts do not back this up as a solid chance chanceCome Come On Red has failed before when matched against this sort but the stable knows he moves way up in mud just how much no one knows for sure perhaps not even his connections If muddy and he starts it is then an appraisal if he can outrun his demonstrated class in the footing He run in the mutuel field fieldTerrang Terrang stablemate of last years winner Swaps is a good horse good enough to win the Santa Anita Derby and to sizzle at a mile and 70 yards at GUlf stream and will have the added advantage of Willie Shoemaker in the stirrups But his racing record is spotty too spotty to date to rate him off championship calibre calibreBlack Black Emperor is a big powerful horse and came up to the Derby in a very iffy way If he ran well at Keeneland lied start in the Derby Trial He did that If he ran well in the Derby Trial hed run in the Derby He did well in the Trial clos ¬ ing a lot of ground in running fourth to Fabius but not beaten much over a length Jean Baptiste came here from New York at the last minute because the Wood Me ¬ morial was his only poor race this year He has the breeding and the class to be a Derby winner but hed have to reverse the Wood verdict to win Saturday SaturdayInvalidate Invalidate has enough speed to get out of early jackpots if jackpots do develop among the slow beinning stretch runners but whether he can sustain that speed a mile and onequarter even in the slush is as yet open to proof proofKing King o Swords beat Black Emperor at Keeneland in an allowance race is sharp and can run all day seemingly but if you like him very much youve got to toss out his Louisiana Derby effort in which he was beaten 16 lengths by Reaping Right not to mention the Arkansas Derby in which he was fourth to such as Johns Chic and Come on Red RedAnd And lastly Countermand His races to date in Kentucky have been just good enough to warrant the firm belief that hell do better next time out but so far at three that next time has never quite developed into anything sensational sensationalTherefore Therefore the Derby presents as we say a confused picture pictureFor For all this its a fascinating Derby and this expectancy this uncertainty this stuff of which horse racing is made ie that every horse has a chance may not be de ¬ cided until the wire is crossed here Satur ¬ day afternoon
