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► r — ■■■■■ • j Mrs. Sam E. WJIson Carries on Late Husbands Quest for Derby Victory Red Hot Pistol Trained by 4 Ex-Jockey John Fernandez; Veteran Dodson Gets Mount CHUKCHUi DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — Mrs. Sam E. Wilson Jr., of Corpus Christi, Texas, is carrying on the turf tra-ditons of her late husband, whose ambition in life was to win a Kentucky Derby but who never quite could bring it about. Wilson, who nominated for the Derby for eight different runnings, actually had four starters in three runnings. His best showing came with his first effort, in 1951, when Royal Mustang finished second and his stablemate, Golden Birch, 19th. In 1952, Gushing Oil finished 11th, and in 1954, King Phalanx was far back, 16th to be exact. Wilson, an oil man, came .into racing in an odd manner. He used to like to go to the races in Chicago as a fan, and one day came up with the inspiration it might be fun to own some horses as well as patronize them at the pari-mutuel wickets. He purchased several horses privately. A down to earth man, Wilson started in , the oil fields with a pick and shovel, and his intense drive, a drive which he carried into racing, led him into his own drilling operation, and later his own production unit. tied Hot Pistol was toting the silks of his widow, Mrs. Wilson, for the first time in the recent meeting at Keeneland. Johnny Fernandez, a native of New Orleans, grew up almost in the shadow of old Jefferson Park, and starting as an exercise boy, soon became a rider. He plied his saddle trade for 18 years, ranging his activity from coast to coast and border to border. At one time, at Caliente, he rode both steeplechase and flat races the same afternoon. When weight forced him from the saddle, he took to breaking yearlings at Lexington. His .post with Mrs. Wilson is his first major one as a trainer. Jockey Douglas Dodson, pilot of Red Hot MRS. SAM E. WILSON JR. — Owner of Red Hot Pistol, starter in todays Derby. Pistol, is an old hand at Kentucky Derby competition and, in ten tries, has been in the money four times, being second with Pot CLuck in 1945, third with Faultless in 1947, third with My Request in 1948 and third with Mr. Trouble in 1950. His other Derby mounts include Wine List, Big-Stretch, Brown Rambler, Ram CWar, King Phalanx for the late Mr. Wilson, .and No Regrets. Dodson is a native of western Canada, and he learned about horses at an early age on the farm of his parents in Alberta He rodg his first mount on a recognized track at Caliente, Mexico, in 1938 for veteran trainer Harry Walters. He continued to ride on "the West Coast, and in California, until 1943, when he moved his base of operations to the Midwest. V
