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** EDDIE ARCARO— Out to better his own record. Arcaro in 20th Derby Appearance Seeks Sixth Success With First Landing Hill Gail His Last Victor In Classic; Only Rider With Two Triple Crown Winners By JOE HIRSCH CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 1. — Making his 20th appearance in the Kentucky Derby Saturday aboard C. T. Chenerys First Landing, Eddie Arcaro, still Americas premier rider at age 43, holds the unique distinction of having won more renewals of the world-famed "Run for the Roses" than any jockey in U.S. turf history — five. And yet despite his position in a profession he has dominated for over two decades, Arcaro hasnt won the Derby since 1952 with Calumets Hill Gail , and has a half dozen fruitless efforts to show for his diligent search of a sixth triumph in the countrys most coveted race. Longden Won Derby Once After winning with Hill Gail, Arcaro finished fifth with Correspondent in 1953, fourth with Goyamo in 1954, second with Nashua in 1955, eighth with Head Man in 1956. fourth with Bold Ruler in 1957 and fourth again last season with Jewels Reward. Arcaros experiences underline how difficult it is to win the Kentucky Derby. Not only is it usually necessary to have the best horse, but he must be the best that day, and any rider, no matter how skillful, must have a tremendous amount of racing luck to coincide with the ability of he and his mount. Glancing at the all-time list of winning American jockeys, Johnny Longden. in No. Continued on Page 23 D 4 Arcaro in 20th Derby Appearance Aims for Sixth Success in Race With First Landing; Hill Gail His Last Victor Continued from Page 5 D 1 position with over 5,000 victories, has only won the Derby once with Count Fleet in 1943. The recently retired Ted Atkinson, in third position behind Arcaro, never won the Derby. Willie Shoemaker, who is fourth on the list, has won it only once with Swaps in 1955 , while fifth-place Johnny Adams, another who retired last year, never won the Derby. Adams and Atkinson rode for more than 20 years, while Longden has been around for over 32 seasons. Dont try to tell these boys that winning the Derby is an easy matter. Thus Arcaros remarkable achievements stand out in bold relief. The legendary Isaac Murphy and the brilliant Earl Sande are the only others to win the Derby as many as three times. But then the unusual has been almost commonplace for Arcaro, who is the greatest "money" rider this country has ever known. The Cincinnatian had his first ride in May of 1931. won his first race in January of 1932. In all, Arcaro has accepted over 21.000 mounts, won over 4,200 races, and his mounts have earned about 5,000,000. In addition to his record five Derbys Lawrin-Whirlaway-Hoop Jr.-Citation-Hill Gail , Arcaro is the only rider to have won six runnings of the Preakness, seven Belmont Stakes and is also the only man to have ridden two Triple Crown winners — Whirlaway and Citation. Incidentally, we havent had a Triple Crown winner since Citations feat in 1948. President of Jockeys Guild President of the Jockeys Guild and advisor not only to riders but to many segments of the industry, Arcaro is one of the most respected figures in American racing. He began riding in a roughhouse era, before the film patrols brought strict supervision of tactics on the track, and in his youth, Eddie was one of the wildest of the wild. But a years suspension by the Jockey Club did much to change his thinking, and in the past 15 years his reputation has reached unparalleled heights. It is a tribute to his position that Arcaro is known in turf centers through the world as "The Master." One of the founders of the Jockeys Guild, that organization would not have reached its present healthy and flourishing status, without Arcaros diplomatic ability and prestige. Even now, when many older riders balk at sharing their free time, he spends long hours after the races at rehearsals for the annual show staged by the Guild at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York each fall to raise money for the Guilds welfare fund. Thoroughly gregarious, Eddie loves com-• pany of every kind, is a thoughtful and gentlemanly friend, who is closest to such diversified characters as Toots Shor. Sammy Renick, Don Ameche and Willie Horn. He has extensive outside business interests in oil, real estate, restaurants, securities and hotels, can converse intelligently on a wide variety of topics, and is an excellent after-dinner speaker, as he demonstrated j a few years ago when he charmed the blase membership of Washingtons National Press Club.
