The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-01-12
AMERICANS WILL TRY HARD
TO WIN THE ENGLISH DERBY,
MeSsrs. Vanderbilt. Keene, Whitney and Croker All Have Entries
That Have Good Chances to Finish First.
speed as good as half a mile in 81. uphill
mar. pf the u-av

speed as good as half a mile in 81. uphill
par: OF the way.
MIR. VandcrbiIt's Entry.
An intensified international flavor attaches
to the Derby of this year by the fact that
Mr.. William X Vanderbilt has a colt called
Ellsmere engaged. This y~oungster was
lean mare. Ella Pinkertoa. who was sent
oyer TO that country in foal 10 the dead
Hanover.
Ellsmere's notable victory at AIaisons
Laitte in october last. when he defeated 4
field comprising , and ) year olds at seven
fariongS and ran as If ne liked u long race,
certainly entities him TO great respect. The
colt is also in the Grand PriN, to be run
cIly \ few days after the Derby, and The
winner of the English stake is sometimes
at Il disadvantage in trying for the French
prize so soon after the Derby.
Nasturtinm's Chances Dear to Amerl-
cans.
Nasturtium is, beyond doubt, the colt IN
which most interest Is felt, because OF the
great odds he encounters in his attempt.
Not alone must he be of good enough class
TO De able to win If he had no setbacks OF
any sort, but he must survive all the
chances of sickness and changes of climate
that Turk upon the heels of a race horse
a year to win the blue ribbon, died al
most Immediately after landing. killashan-
ORA, a FLY. met the same fate.
on the other hand. Kilmarnock. Elizabeth
Nj. Elkhorn. st. Cloud. Voter and many
others landed safely. and most of them
raced up to their known form. st. Cloud
WAS Wlt!ln d snort mead OF Winning one /
the big fall handicaps. Voter WAS a failure
in England. but a success here; st. Cloud
q success in England, a failure in America.
Kilmarnock was a real good horse in both
countries. and from the tone of John Hug
gins. his trainer. there is not n horse upon
the English turf that has a better chance
for the hCuorS to be won in .he Ascot Gold
Cup and Alexandra Vase, to say nothing OF
the other valuable races in which he Is en-
gagged.
AS TO the public form of Mr.. Whftney's
candidate. racing critics liked the manner
in which Nasturtium won the Flatbush
Stakes at Sheepshead Bay. seven furlongs.
run in lbs 3-5. But il was over the new or
nearly straight seven furlcngs. and old not
rank as good a performance as was that Of
Reduital in 1885. when he ran around the
turn in 1:26. defeated the good colt Ben
Brush, ran the first five furlongS in 'one
minute. fiat" and went on the tull mile in
lao. as timed by a number of experts at
the time. This was the most notable pub
lie trial ever shown. and when David Gid
con, who owned him at that time. was re-
Gently asked if such a colt as Requital could
lave won this years English Derby. he en-
phatically declared that he could have won
fifteen Derbys."
The same good judge was asked how he
liked the chances of Mr.. Whitrey's colt for
the Derby. and he answered that if he was
as good a colt as he appeared to be in this
Tor, but that it would have helped his
chances very much if he could have been
landed safely in October last.
lines Rnwe Mr. KS W 80 Who
WIZ
ought to know what sort of a colt il took
to win the Derby. said that he was in
fluenccd by the fact that John Higgins was
very much of the opinion that Nasturtium's
chances were second to none. Jacob Pin
Gus. who trained froquois when he won the
Derby of 1881. was confident that Nastur-
tium had a good chance to win. but he had
never seen him run. and hence was depend
Gnt upon the opinions of his friends. some
of whom thought that the colt had bad
action for one who would he required 20 win
over the peculiar nerby course. But
kingfisher had bad action. too said Mr..
PjncUs. and he could have won any Derby.
and might have beaten Iongfellow in 1871.
in the three-mile race that was to follow
the cup of that year, but old John Harper
refused to run Longfeilow against King
fisher. who had a walkover."
John w. Rogers. trainer Of Nasturtium
during the season of 1901. has expressed the
utmost confidence in the colt. claiming that
for speed he had no superior In America,
and he was certain that he would so the
Derby route.
And. finally, John Higgins. the man who
is to train the Derby colt. is of the opinion
that In five months training he will be able
10 fit Nasturtiuin to run a race good enough
to win the Derby if his class is equal to it.
Conditions of EPSON Derby.
Just what the Derby is and the sort Of
course that the winner has to run over to
achieve this great honor are interesting TO
Americans who are familiar with the cir
cular tracks of this country.
In good weather the going" is all right,