New-York tribune., 1918-06-02
My Dear and Ferry Also
Liked - Merry Monarch,
1000 to |, Luckiest
Winner
By ]. S. Mitchell

strip of velvet sward, which Danny
Maher once averred was the grandest
piece of running turf on earth.
At this juncture attention is about
divided between My Dear, owned by A.
w. Cox, who won last year with Gay
Crusader; Ferry, the property of Lord
Derby, and Galnsborough, owned by
Lady Jane Douglas. but to go on his
breeding, Gainsbrough, which is by
Bayardo out of Rosedrop, an Oaks win
ner, should fash his shoes in the eyes
OF the field at the winning post. Gains
borough recently won the Two Thou
sand Guineas from the best three-year-
old colts in training.
For the past decade or SO it is q
question often heard as to which was
the luckiest of all Derby winners. Some
say that Hermit, the victor of 1867, at
1000 to Is, bears the palm, and others
are firm believers in Signorinetta, the
100 to ] shot which landed the big
money in 1908.
Nobody nowadays ever heard tell of
Merry Monarch, the hero of 1845, and
easily may be put down as the luckiest
of all Derby winners, and an animal
whose biography, if written in full de-
tail, would make one of the most pc
culiar chapters of turf history.
AS the story goes, the shouting from
the betting ring before the horses
lined up for the parade was: "Any
price some of those starters!" and "Any
price Merry Monarch!"- A little pre-
vious, and while the horses were sad
ding, odds of 200 to / were laid
against a cold named Clear the Way,
and his figure was shortened when
few venturesome souls placed small
bets on him.
A Sovereign for Luck
Merry Monarch was absolutely
friendless among the throng of sports
until quiet-looking individual-a
friend Of F. Bell, who rode Merry Mon
arch-slipped up to one of the bookies
and asked the odds on Merry Mon
arch: The bookie thought he had
caught sucker and answered: ooh,
anythlng-2,O00 to l if you care to
bet" Thereupon the shy one fshed
planked it on Monarch. The bookie
laughed and asked him if he intended
to get the piece of gold back, but the
backer said he did not care whether
or not and merely put the money up
"for luck" Merry Monarch had a
stable companion named Doleful,
fancied a trife at Is to 1. and, curl
ously enough, he was steered by H.
Bell, brother of the jockey of the
long shot.
Among the starters was Idas, winner
of the Two Thousand Guineas that
spring, and candidate placed favorite
at "threes" as the horses walked out
for the parade. Weatherbit, owned by
John Gully, the worlds champion
rugilist, and remarkable as the only
prizefighter who ever owned Derby
winner, was next in demand to Idas
at "fours"
There was a mix-up at the start, as
Alarm kicked at Libel, which in return
jumped on his opponent, knocking Nat
Flatman clean out of his seat. Find
ing himself free, Alarm ran away tow
ard the stewards stand and was MAX
ing for the carriage Enclosure when he
was caught. taken back to the start
and remounted by Flatman, but he did
nothing in the race, as it was after
ward found that he had been injured
severely by hitting against the fence
that bounded the course.
After the field finally broke away
Merry Monarch did not show WELL but
here his luck came into play again.
At Tattenham Corner Lord Chester
fields Pam fell and Gully's Weather
bit rolled over him, so that Merry
after they Strengthened for home.
Doleful and Old England were in
front, but at the distance Bell gave
Merry Monarch few resoundng wal
lops on the ribs and to the surprise
of the rider and the CONSERVATION of
the crowd the colt responded, and,
drawing out, won cleverly by length
and a half. The spectators were so
dumfounded that there wasn't sin
gle cheer for the victor, yet every one
wanted to get a square look at the
very impressive. When he was un-
saddled they saw big, ungainly ami
NAL. for he stood nearly 1853 hands,
with high withers, standing on long,
ungainly legs, with out-turned toes and
scarcely line indicative Of a Derby
winner.
Owner Never Wagered
The colt was owned by an erratic
gentleman named w. G. K. Gratwicke,
who never bet cent on a race but
who had uncanny luck with horses, and
who all his life met with a wonderful
streak of good fortune on the turf. In
1929 he purchased mare named Phan-
tom for the nominal sum of $3.50. and
that stood for a fee of $50, and she
produced a horse foal, which was
named Frederick, and Forth, who
trained the Mitchell Grove Stable for
Gratwicke, advised him to enter the
colt for the Derby of 1929, tip which
was needed by the owner, and Forth
had the felicity of riding Frederick to
victory at Epson. In the same race
Forth had colt entered named Ex-
quisite, and when both animals were
two-year-olds the trainer made a big
bet on Exquisite with a London bookie
named Crockford. Knowing what both
colts could do, he was we'll aware that
Frederick was much faster in the
early spring of the colts three-year- old
season, so he asked Crockford if he
could change the bet to Frederick, and
the bookie said he could, and ride them
both as for all he cared. Forth imme-
diately hedged, and intimated that he
would ride Frederick himself. In fact,
he could have won on either colt, but
he took the mount on Frederick, and
won by neck, the odds being at 40 to
l, and Forth reaped a rich harvest.
Frederick was one of the smallest
horses that ever won the Derby, as he
stood but Is hands. The Derby was
his first and last race, as he never did
anything worth recording afterward.
He was sent to the stud at Ham, where
he did duty at the wretched fee of SIT,
or what would now be considered
poor price for the service of a Pc
kingese pet dog.
Meanwhile the old mare Phantom
was alive, and in 1880 she produced