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y 1 — : -i i C V. Whitneys Eighth Derby Starter Enters Flamingo In Todays Classic Owner Bears Name of One Of American Turfs First Families; Veitch Trainer By CHARLES HATTON CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville. Ky., May 2. — C. V. Whitney, owner of Flamingo, bears with distinction the name- of one of the first families of the American turf. His grandfather, William Collins Whitney, prominent in diplomatic and financial circles, founded the stud about the turn of the century. Its nucleus was formed from the finest bloodstock available, with em» phasis on "class in the dam." Nasturtium carried his colors here. He leased Volod-yovski, who carried his Eton blue, brown cap colors acquired for just 20 pounds sterling successfully in the Epsom Derby. Martha II., the dam of Artful; endurance by right, "the only Regrets" granddam Daisy J1., Counterpoints ancestress Vega, and Dominos sister Correction were among the mares who founded the stud. Racing Interests Passed Down Upon W. C. Whitneys death, his sons, Payne and Harry Payne Whitney, perpetuated his racing interests, which became traditional by the time Paynes son, John Hay "Jock" and H. P.s .son, Cornelius Van-derbilt Whitney, inherited them.- Harry Payne Whitney established a stud at Red Bank.N. J., and there bred the 1915 Kentucky Derby winner. Regret, and the 1927 winner, Whiskery. Like his father, H. P. Whitney presented the Eton blue in English competition. Borrow, Lady Hamburg II. and Whisk Broom n. winning important events there under the training of A. J. Joyrier during the eclipse of New York racing about 1910. C. V. Whitneys first stakes winner was perhaps his greatest horse; the horse Equipoise, the occasion the Pimlico Futurity of 1930, in which he was left at the post and beat Twenty Grand and Mate, despite the further disadvantage of casting two plates in- the mud. "Sonnys" father had passed on earlier in the year. Before his death, he had transferred the stud to the 1,000-acre farm at Lexington, Ky., where C. V. Whitney bred Horse of the Year Counterpoint. Flamingos owner has not won a Derby, bufscored near misses when Phalanx was second in 1947 and Mr. Trouble finished third in 1950. Veitchs Father Chase Jockey Whitney not only is keen to win a Derby, but is a firm advocate of International racing, sending Career Boy and. the Washington, D. C, International winner, Fisherman, to Paris to compete for the Prix de lArc de Triomphe. Flamingo is his eighth starter- in the American turfs "blue riband." Trainer * Sylvester Veitch is, like his patron, a racing man by birth, instinct and C. V. WHITNEY environment. His father Cy Veitch was a prominent steeplechase jockey and later a trainer. Veitch, a native of Lynbrook, L. I., first devoted his talents to steeplechasers, as an owner, jockey and trainer. Slightly over a decade ago, he was appointed manager of Whitneys stud at Lexington, Ky. There he showed a rare versatility by attending the breeding, foaling, rearing and breaking of First Flight, the next season, in 1946, taking out a trainers license and saddling her to win the Belmont Futurity and the champion of the two-year-olds. Veitch has saddled all seven of Whitneys previous Derby representatives. Flamingos progress from an obscure colt, unraced in the winter, into a "Derby horse" reflects Veitchs peculiar talent forhaving a horse ready to "outrun himself" "when pointed for a specific race. Gordon Glisson will be astride Flamingo. Glisson, a former national riding champion he led the list in 1949 with 270 winners, for many years was one of the most popular reinsmen in California and New York. His star dimmed in recent years. however, because of 14 serious spills which necessitated long periods of hospitalization before making his comebacks to the, races. He is a hard-riding, "Iceman" Woolf type of jockey who can get the utmost out of his mounts. Gordon, born in Winnsboro, S. C, in 1930, rode his first winner at Longacres in 1948- and has scored more than 1,100 victories since. ]
