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Finnegan Has Chance to Prove That His Sire Is Capable of 10 -Furlong Progeny I j I Royal Chargers Foals Thus Far of Mile Type; Last Wave, His Dam, Holds Key No son or daughter of Royal Charger has won a scale weight or weight-for-age stakes in this country at 10 furlongs or beyond. Finnegan may become the first to do so in this 85th Derby. There is some precedent for the sanguine expectancy of his connections, for Sea Charger, by Royal Charger, won the Irish St. Leger at a longer distance. Royal Charger, Finnegans sire, has sired classic winners on both sides of the Atlantic, but, excepting Sea Charger, they have been of the mile "Guineas" variety. Royal Charger, a three-parts brother to Nasrullah,- was considered a sprinter in England. His best race was a close third to Court Martial and the even- tual Derby winner, Dante, in the mile Two I Thousand Guineas. Stamina Index of 7.76 Furlongs Before coming to this country to stand, Royal Charger sired numerous winners in England and Ireland. His stamina index, j through 1957, was 7.76 furlongs exclusive of two-year-olds I as compared to 7.90 for i Tomy Lees sire, Tudor Minstrel. Turn-to, sire of First Landing, is by Royal Charger, as is Idun, champion of her sex the past two seasons. Turn-to won up to nine furlongs and then broke down before being asked for 10. Idun never won a stakes beyond a mile and a sixteenth. However, Finnegan, a husky chestnut who is inclined to be lazy, is out of Last Wave, an allowance winning daughter of Bull Lea, the greatest of modern-day sires and leading broodmare sire of 1958. Last , Wave, who placed in the mile and one- j sixeteenth Sar.ta Margarita it is now 9 furlongs to Cerise Reine, was out of Nellie I Flag, best two- and three -year-old filly of her year and the starting favorite in the Kentucky Derby. Nellie Flag also bred the Beldame winner, Mark-Kell, best handicap mare of 1943. Mar-Kell, in turn, foaled Mark-Ye-Well, a near champion, and the good race mare, Amoret. She also produced Nellie L., classic winner of the Kentucky Oaks and the Acorn and dam of De Luxe, * , _ the popular Sunshine Nell and five other winners. The Derby question concerning Finnegan is whether the "length" of his dams family will be long enough to compensate for the "shortness" of his sires.
