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Weighing In By Evan Shrpman Uniform High Quality Accorded Derby Field Caution May Deter Gen Duke From Starting Breeding Gives Better Bee Outside Chance ChanceJAMAICA JAMAICA L I N Y May 3 It just does not add up does not make sense On the one hand you have every horseman of your acquaintance convinced that Saturdays Kentucky D e r b y is about the most wide open re ¬ newal of the great popular classic within living memory while on the other hand all six of the turf journalists queried by the weekly mag a z i n e Sports Illustrated unanimously prophesy a victory for Calumet Farms Gen Duke the only difference of opinion on that score having to do with the degree of superiority with which these scribes expect the fine bay son of Bull Lea Wistful by Sun Again to polish off his opposition All this of course was before Gen Dukes chances were compromised by a recently devel ¬ oped stone bruise or may we say the suspicion of a stone bruise since from what we know of Jimmy Jones methods it is hardly likely for that patient and con ¬ servative trainer to risk injuring a potentially great young thoroughbred for the sake of any single engage ¬ ment no not even when that engagement is the Kentucky Derby So we are speaking as if some such accident as the suspected stone bruise had not come along to complicate matters and our point is that when a field Boasts such assorted talent as Bold Ruler Gallant Man Round Table and Iron Liege not to mention Federal Hill Better Bee and Mister Jive it is shortsighted even foolhardy to dismiss their chances as negligible in favor of any single rival be that rival who he may Gen Duke or even the mythical Pegasus PegasusSee See Calumets Likely 21 Choice ChoiceSince Since it is only natural for difference of Opinion of horses or racing to express itself in terms of a wager we will offer you an illustration of the hold Gen Duke has on the imagination of turf writers During a discus ¬ sion of Saturdays big race we were asked to make a prediction of the starting odds Do you mean what the odds wilLbe or what they ought to be we wanted to know What they will be Our prediction was that the Calumet entry Gen Duke and Iron Liege would go to the post at two to one make the choice two to one and it ought by rights to be three to one Make Bold Ruler three to one Gallant Man three and a half or four Round Table and Federal Hill at five or six each and write your own ticket on the others You would have thought that we had slandered their hero by the shocked startled look greeting our mention of a price as generous as two to one for Calumet We were first asked whether our prediction had been facetious on our assurance that we were perfectly serious we were almost angrily challenged to put your money where your mouth is We did so But now even if we are justified by the actual price the facts or rumors concerning Gen Dukes ailing hoof have robbed our gesture of its point Allow us to expand on Jimmy Jones present di ¬ lemma Should he decide to start Gen Duke the colt the kind of generous individual who will run his heart out rather than concede defeat might well make an impossible demand on the good leg in order to com ¬ pensate for the shortcomings of the afflicted limb With the normal balance disturbed in this manner the possibilities of damage are almost infinite you could start with a bowed tendon and go right down the list of injuries fostered by abnormal strain As far as the stone bruise itself is concerned from all reports an ailing heel the two pulpy cushions where the coronary band terminates this specific condition can be met by draining any pocket of pus that may have formed deadening the immediate area with novocaine and relieving any possible pressure with a felt pad between shoe and hoof A cure and that of course requires time can come later but the emergency measures would permit the colt to start The wisdom of opening the door to other and far more serious injuries to the delicate equine mechanism is another matter nor will trainer Jimmy Jones overlook the possible parallel with the final start of Citations threeyearold cam ¬ paign the Bay Meadows race that was the beginning of all the champions later troubles troublesTop Top Two Almost Perfect Racing Tools ToolsPresuming Presuming both Gen Duke and Bold Ruler to be in condition to show their best race we maintain that there is little or nothing to choose between them Both are magnificent individuals almost perfect race tools as well endowed in terms of nervous organiza ¬ tion as they are physically The scales weighing the merits of the son of Bull Lea and the Nasrullah colt are so evenly balanced that a breath will tilt them in favor of one or the other and it is the breath of pure sentiment that inclines our preference in the direction of Bold Ruler As for Gallant Man theMigoli colts race against Bold Ruler in the recent Wood Memorial here at Jamaica was such a magnificent performance that dispassionate analysis accords Johnny Neruds charge equal credit with the winner Gallant Man was not only good that day he was good in a manner to persuade the spectator that he might well be even better on the next occasion So far we have done little more than reiterate known quantities completely neg ¬ lecting the factor of pure surprise always present in inContinued Continued on Page FortyS WEIGHING IN INBy By EVAN SHOPMAN Continued from Page Fhe Fheany any great thoroughbred contest such as we confidently expect this Derby to be Sur ¬ prise presumes an outsider a dark horse and have we any such to offer tomorrow Yes we have and the name of Colt is Better Bee BeeHere Here is the reasoning behind Better Bees selection as an interesting dark horse in this instance practically a pun since the colt lacks little of being jet black You certainly have not forgotten Count Fleet Better Bee is bred on exactly the same pattern as the Hertz familys i great champion great as a race horse great as a sire Reigh Count Count Fleets Derby winning sire transformed and revivified the decadent Sundridge line Singlehandedly so to speak Reigh Count established on that shaky foundation a family that now gives every evidence of breeding on even though the full burden of the fight for survival is shared by but two sons the full brothers Count Fleet and Count Speed Now the distinguishing characteristics of this rejuvenated breed is the rare combination of speed and stamina the pair cited representing Reigh Counts cross on a Haste mare Reigh Count sired other line horses than Count Fleet and Count Speed although none of them was ever fashionable ever given any real chance at stud no not even that sterling cup horse Count Arthur nor Fred Astaires Hollywood Gold Cup winner Triplicate The latter if we recall has been exiled to Japan but before banishment Triplicate was mated with another daugh ¬ ter of the some stallion Haste who is Quickly had already furnished the dam of Count Fleet The product of that union is Better Bee and we suggest that when one of this formidable line shows the sheer speed to set a new track record for a mile and a sixteenth as did Better Bee recently at Gulfstream Park the complimentary virtue of bottom or stamina their com ¬ mon heritage will make a foe to fear and respect
