The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1930-05-14
ALKING
IT over
By JOE WILLIAMS


IL know about the race track Is
what people tell me and what 1
dream.
So when I come here and mingle
with the experts and hear them say
in one breath that the best boss IN
the derby field is Gallant Fox and
that he ought to win going away
and in the next hear them say
that he can't win because IN
frequently no really good boss wins
the derby I suppose 1 should
not be bewildered or surprised, be-
cause racing folk are strange
critters.
At any rate that is the dope here. or
al least IL is the dope you hear around
the barns in the forenoon hours when the
grooms. the swipes and the assistant train
ers sit huncbed up against the stables in
the lazv spring sunshine and watch the
Derby candidates out on the track tighten
ing I'D for SATURDAYS race
THE TRADITION THAT THE DERBY
SELDOM GOES TO THE BEST HOS5
DATES BACK TO THE VERY FIRST DER
BY EVER RUN HERE. THIS WAS WAY
BACK III THE 7Os. LITTLE RED
sTEED NAMED ARIsTIDEs WAS
DROPPED IN THE FIELD MERELY FOR
THE PURPOSE OF WEARING OUT OP-
PONENTs BY FORCING DIZZY PACE
so THAT HIS sTABLE-MATE. CHESA-
PEAKE. COULD WIN.
Z IKE a gallant soldier ArlStloeS
l. obeyed instructions whirling of
a mile at a tearing pace.
Then, when Chesapeake was sup
posed to come to the front and take
the pace. Jockey Lewis looked
around and discovered that worthy
colt far in the rear. The owner Of
both colts, One Price McGrath. was
sanding near the head of the
stretch. He waved Aristides on.
r.
II had been a fearful pace and the little
red colt had forced it all the way. But
the legend is that he kept going, fighting
with every bite Of the whip, Dlunging blind
" onward on sheer pluck. ultimately to
win by a scant half head. Nobody had
figured him an important factor at any
time. not even his master.
TT Is THE RULE RATHER THAN HE
EXCEPTION THAT DRAMA OF THIS
SORT Is DEVELOPED IN THE DERBY
FOR .TwENTY-sIX YEARS THE DERBY
COURSE WAS A MILE AND A HALF
LONG. THE FASTEST TIME FOR THAT
DISTANCE WAS MADE BY COLT
NAMED SPOKANE. 2.34ia. IN 1889. He
WAS JUST AS MUCH AN OUTSIDER AS
WAS ARIsTIDES. IN HIS RECORD
BREAKING VICTORY HE BEAT PROC
TOR KNOTT BLAZED-FACE GELDING
THAT CARRIED ALL THE MONEY.
A POLIO and Day Star, two
N winners of another generation,
came to the Derby practically
ignored by the form players. Neither
had been a success as 2-year-olG
In more recent times Sir Barton,
with a record of never having won
a race. stepped out to win the most
historic race on the American turf.
II
Also there is the classic instance Of Ex-
ierminator in 1918, frownedOn outsider.
exercise companion for sun Briar. Willis
sbarpe Kilmer's favoritc and entered at
the last moment when sun Briar became
indisposed. Exterminator's victory in the
Derby was the beginning of one of the
most notable racing careers in the history
OF the sport.
SUPPORTING FURTHER THE TRADI-
TON THAT THE GOOD HOSS IS NOT
ALWAYS GOOD ENOUGH ON DERBY
DAY IS THE STORY OF DONERAIL, A
SUPPOSEDLY INFERIOR COLT THAT
WAS STARTED FOR NO OTHER PUR-
POSE THAN TO PLEASE HIS OWNERS
VANITY: HE WANTED TO HAVE A DER
BY STARTER. DONERAII WON THE
RACE. PAYING s134.SO to 81. A RECORD
PRICE FOR TIE SOUTHERN CLASSIC.
A ND there are numerous other
IA instances similar in nature
which seem to argue that when big
ger and more bewildering upSets
are made they will be made over
that historic strip of turf that is
known as Churchill Downs.
90 maybe when the bows around the
AArns tell YOU that Gallant Fox is a good
sass. but that he isn't good enough to beat
\ tradition that goes hack - 1875. they
f-.v be telling YOU something that is more
important than all the dopc you can get
from the checkers. the stud book and the
form charts.