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WILLIAM S MILLER Trio Guides Better Bees Destinies Miller Carroll Adams Veterans VeteransOwner Owner Is Illinois Racing Board Member Bought Colt Practically Sight Unseen UnseenCHUBCHIUj CHUBCHIUj DOWNS Louisville Ky May 3 Better Bee is the lone Illinois hope in tomorrows Kentucky Derby His owner William S Miller is a resident of Ottawa HI and a member of the Illinois Racing Board while his trainer Del Carroll also is a resident of the Prairie State John Adams veteran rider who will have a leg up on Better Bee a native of lola Kansas usually rides on the Chicago area circuit after thesDerby is renewed each year yearMiller Miller has served his state for just over six years in racing government has raced horses on a modest scale for 12 years and has his first Derby prospect in Better Bee a colt by Triplicate acquired privately as a newly turned twoyearold from breeder E K Thomas of Paris Ky KyMiller Miller a manufacturer of gym and school equipment shares his home between Ot ¬ tawa HI and Goldbeach Florida In the Illinois city he is chairman of the board of the Ottawa National Bank He was first appointed a racing commissioner by then Governor later presidential candidate Ad lai E Stevenson was reappointed by Gov ¬ ernor Stratton and only recently was re appointed to a new sixyear term effective next July 1 1Keeneland Keeneland Visit Deciding Point PointI I first became interested in thorough ¬ breds by visiting Keeneland Miller re ¬ veals and became an owner for the first time through purchase of a yearling from Coldstream Better Bee is by far and away the best horse I have ever owned although Ive always kept my stable to about eight head or less lessI I purchased Better Bee practically sight unseen He was recommended to me by a man whose judgment and integrity I trust Red Dobson arid the deal was as good as closed before I even had a chance to look at the colt He was already named when I bought him so I had nothing to do with his name nameWhile While the commissioners horses race in the Midwest in spring summer and fall and Florida in the winter he is not nation ally known for his stable but rather for his hard work on the Illinois Racing Board He puts in long hours at it devotes con ¬ siderable study to the problems of racing and how best the sport could be improved in Illinois in particular and nationally in general generalCarroll Carroll is one of the youngest trainers ever to saddle a Kentucky Derby starter and it goes without saying that this is not only his first Derby effort but Better Bee is by far and away the best horse he has ever trained Born in West Chester Penn ¬ sylvania on a farm and into a family of harness horse folks Carroll rode his own horse almost as soon as he could walk and competed in hunt events at Rosetree and Radnor He left for New York to play polo poloContinued Continued on Page SO D Better Bees Destinies Guided By Miller Carroll and Adams Owner Is Illinois Racing Board Member BoughtColt Practically Sight Unseen UnseenContinued Continued from Page 47 D Dbut but his patron there sent him bact to school and he graduated from the Penn ¬ sylvania Military College He soon entered the Army and served three years with a mechanized cavalry outfit saw action in Germany and was in Berlin when the sur ¬ render came cameExcelled Excelled in Polo PoloUpon Upon his discharge as a first lieuten ¬ ant he again resumed his polo playing to attain a seven goal rank outdoors eight goals for indoor polo His polo interests took him to Chicago where he went to work for an auto agency owned by M L Bernard But the auto business palled and when Bernard a polo enthusiast said he would like to buy some thoroughbreds only some six years ago Carroll became the trainer But Bernard decided he wasnt quite ready for a major stable operation after a time sold out and Carroll hooked up with Paul Serdar of Illinois now chair ¬ man of the Illinois Racing Board Later he took over the horses of W Miller Although he has only been with thoroughbreds for six years his experience with the horse spans almost his whole lifetime lifetimeJohnny Johnny Adams who will ride Better Bee will be making his 13th try for the big one and while many honors have accrued to him during his long saddle career luck has always eluded him in the Derby He rode Blue Swords to finish second in 1943 but he was up against Count Fleet that year and that was that In 1954 he was second to Determine with Hasty Road In all other efforts he was unplaced Actually it was 18 years ago when he made his first Derby try in 1939 to be exact with Tech ¬ nician who finished fifth fifthAdams Adams is now 42 years old and he is fourth on the alltime list of riders in num ¬ ber of lifetime winners He rode his 3000th winner in the spring of 1955 and is a win ¬ ner of the coveted George Woolf Memorial award at Santa Anita an honor given a rider who has been a credit to his profes ¬ racingI sion and to racing I Johnny Adams is one of the very few riders who ever reached the peaks without riding as an apprentice He has never in his life had a contract with any stable He refused the apprentice allowance at old Riverside Park in 1934 when he first rode on a recognized track on the grounds that he could make his own way wayAdams Adams physically is sawed off and short but he is extremely powerful and is a strong finisher His size didnt prevent him from being the national jockey leader no less than three times 1937 1942 and 1943
