Evening star., 1935-05-06
OUTLOOK BRIGHT
FOR GAWKY COLT
Little Opposition Looms in
Preakness-BeImont Race
Ideal for Him.
BY ALAN GOULD,

n YEW YORK, May 6.-The racing
nj future appears unquestionably
bright for Omaha-hailed to-
day as a thoroughbred chip
of the old block"-but it remains to
be seen whether the big chestnut son
OF Gallant Fox can duplicate further
the championship or money-winning
exploits of his famous father, which
won the Derby, Preakness and Belmont
stakes in one year.
There's striking parallel SO far in
the records of the latest and one OF
the most colorful father-and-son COM
binations in the history of the Ameri-
can turf.
Much the way his daddy did in
1880 Omaha came off the far turn
at Churchill Downs to register a
smashing victory Saturday in the 6lst
Kentucky Derby and prove much the
best in a field of 18 three-year-olds.
Ridden by the great Earl Sande. the
Fox won the Derby by two lengths
from Gallant knight on slow track
In the slow time of 2:07 35 for the
mile and quarter. Omaha, with 20
year-old Willie Saunders of Bozeman.
Mont, in the saddle, withstood the
challenge of the black bomber. Roman
Soldier, to win handily by a length
and a half in 205 on fast track.
For Gallant Fox, an inferior juve-
nile. the Kentucky classic was the
springboard to a career as three-year-
old champion. with aggregate earn
ings of S328.165. figure that stands
fourth In the all-time ranking list.
Ready for Big Campaign.
NMAHA, no shakes as a 2-year-old
~ himself but now fully developed
for a brilliant 3-year-old cam
paign, will seek the triple crown by
running in the Preakness at Pimlico
this Saturday and training sub
seQuently for the Belmont Stakes, a
mile nd-a-half race that should see
the son of the Fox at his best.
Bred to go the route, there never
has been any question about Omaha's
finishing powers. but up to the Derby
the colt nearly always had been the
victim of early mishaps.
There's not much chance for
Omaha to surpaSs his sire's money
winning record. Times have changed
since the Fox was bagging some of
the country's richest 3-year-old stakes.
William Woodward. New York banker,
who bred both horses, collected $50
725 as the wirner's net share when
Sande booted Gallant Fox home in
1890 Omaha won S39525.
The value of other big stakes also
has dropped since the boom times,
although the trend again Is upward.
Omaha is not likely to find many
of his Derby rivals in the field at
Pimlico Saturday. though such good
3-year. .olds as Gillie and Black Helen
may give the colt more competition
than any horse in the Kentucky
lineup.
The fact is that the son of Gallant
Fox had things pretty much his own
way after taking unexpected COM
mand of the Derby on the back
stretch. 1t was no great surprise to
the rain-soaked crowd of $4,000 to see
Omaha come from behind to win, but
It was a shock to find most of the
other favorites so soundly beaten.
Nellie Never Got Going.
n IEILIE FLAG, the Calumet fillly,
which was a slight favorite over
Omaha in the betting, was
handicapped by interference at the
outset, but did not show the speed
expected of her at any stage and was
driving to take fourth money by
head from Blackbirder.
Nellie was seven lengths behind the
winner, besides trailing Roman Soldier
and Whiskolo, the Milky Way Farms
entry, which sprang a surprise by TAX
ing third money.
Staggering down the stretch, COM
pletely out of the picture, were such
highly-touted horses as Mrs. Payne
Whitney's Plat Eye, eighth; Mrs. w.
M. Jeffords' Commonwealth, tenth: c. |
v. Whitney's tll-fated Today, erstwhile |
favorite, in twelfth place, and Col. |
e. r. Bradley's Boxthorn, another
heavily backed entry, in sixteenth
position.
Plat Eye and Boxthorn stopped
badly before covering half the route. !
Today undoubtedly was weakened by
q foot injury, suffered the day before
the race.
Omaha. a 4-to-1 second choice, paid
$40 for each 81 mutuel ticket to win, |
thereby rewarding the colts hackers
much more handsomely than did the
favored combination Of Gallant Fox
and Sande in 1880. The Fox paid |
only $43s. !