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Owner Describes Faith in Warren G. Deserves Chance/ SaysW.G. Reynolds Friends Have Made Up Derby Pool; Trainer Saladin and Rider Church Complete Team CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville. Ky., May .2. — You might say we are starting Warren G. to keep faith with a group of friends who made up a pool when the colt was a yearling to bet on him in the Kentucky Derby," laughingly observed W. G. "Billy" Reynolds, owner of Warren G., the colt who has shown trainer Saladin enough to warrant a Derby chance. Veteran Ken Church will be in the irons. "The story is this," explained Reynolds. "Some friends were with jus in Florida when the Phar Mon colt was but a yearling. He was named for U. S. Senator Warren G. Magnusoh of Washington, the senator being a good friend of one of the group. A pool was taken up after the name was decided upon, and the money was put into a special account in a North Dakota bank. The treasurer of the fund has withdrawn it and is ready to put it on the nose when Derby wagering opens Saturday. "Thats the story, but Im really kidding, of course, when I say that the Warren G. Derby fund is the real reason for starting him. Knowing how well he is coming up to the race, and how he is improving, I feel that the librse "has earned his own chance in the Derby." Lives in Anchorage, Ky. Owner Reynolds lives in nearby Anchorage, and has a thoroughbred farm near LaGrange. He-is well-known in the standard bred world, two of his best known driving horses being Meadow Rice, a winner of the Little Brown Jug, among other races, and Direct Rythm. In business life, Reynolds is president of Reynolds, International, and vice president of Reynolds Metals. This interviewer couldnt resist a quip, remarking, "Well, Im pretty sure Warren G. must wear aluminum shoes." Reynolds laughed and admitted as how he probably did. In still another field of the horse, Reynolds was active in polo, attaining a six-goal rank at Meadowbrook. He owns shares in the stallion Barbizon which Warner Jones, Jr., a good friend, is introducing to the stud this season at Hermitage farm, Goshen. Veteran trainer Saladin is a native of Indiana, having been beared on a farm near Brookville. "My father had trotters," he recalls, "and I guess you could say I have been around horses all miy life. From Indiana, Saladin moved to Lexington, and later to Louisville, where he has headquartered for the last dozen years. The man JOCKEY KENNETH CHURCH has been training for 24 years and among his better horses were Arab Actress and Whjzz Away, the latter a winner once of seven straight races. Jockey Ken Church, a native of Canada, is a well-known and consistent rider in the Middle West and especially on Kentucky tracks in the spring. Soon after he rode his first winner, Church became associated with trainer Harry Trotsek, with whom he enjoyed a long run of success. Church has ridden in two previous Der-bys, finishing fifth in a dead heat with Hawley aboard Oil Capitol to Middle-ground in 1950, and was 16th and last with the longshot and lightly regarded Swoop to Hill Gail % in 1952. While Swoop was seemingly outclassed, and outrun, Oil Capitol turned in a_big race under Churchs flawless handling in a Derby year of vintage quality.
