Evening star., 1939-04-08
Disregard Of Golf Code Way Jones' 1929 VIM Sandy Claims
From the
Press Box
Great Line on Derby
Given by Hot Hunter
By JOHN LARDNER,
,ecial Correspondent Of The Star.

By JOHN LARDNEk,
Special Correspondent Of The Star.
NEW YORK, April 8.-1t's the
custom among the country's deeper
thinkers at this time of year to en-
courage sports writer's to make
themselves look as silly as possible.
The sports writer needs very little
announcement on this score, having
been born, as the saying goes, with
so cards to his deck and one foot
in his mouth.
So the Sporting News, baseball's
trade publication, has a contest
every spring to see which Of us prose
poets can come closest to naming
the order of finish in the National
and American Leagues.
And up in Danbury, Conn, guy
offers hat-several hats, in fact
to the writer's who nail the Ken
lucky Derby one-two-three or there
abouts. In both cases they promise
to keep your ballot secret, knowing
full we'll that nothing irritates the
sports writer so much as to have his
ballot kept secret, when he can
make himself look million times
as silly by publishing the fatal fore
cast far and wide.
Mad Halter Is Correct
On Sports Seribes.
'These chumps," said the Mad
Halter of Danbury to himself, or
possibly to his wife and children
over the teatime snack of Panama
straw with bananas. will send me
their votes, in the hope of nicking
me for some free millinery, but
they will also broadcast their folly,
and that will prove to the world that
the Mad Hatters of Danbury are
not mad at all compared with sports
writer's. which will be great boost
for the hatters of Danbury, God
save the mark
The Mad Halter is correct on
every count. The man who at
tempts to name the winner of the
Kentucky Derby in early April, let
alone the -place-shoW spread, is
bucking fearful odds and Wrecking
the lives of his grandchildren, since
the sins of the fathers are said to
visit the third and fourth genera
tions, and not just for the week end
either.
My guess is as follows:
l. JohnstoWn.
2. Challedon.
No
I will have to stop off at DAN
bury in the near future and get
myself a fitting, for these three
horses cannot miss. though I don't
positively guarantee the order of
finish.
slayer, and possibly the best of the
new 3-year old lot. However, Dauber
was a solid horse and a slayer last
year and easily the best of the lot
that went in the Derby, yet he ran
second to Lawrin because of a slow
start. At mile and quarter, in
the spring. you want a fast horse
with class and certain, even if
limited, staying qualities. That is
the description of JohnstoWn, want
ed IN seven States for train robbery.
Would Betroy Sources
IF He Had Them.
Ell Chico, the favorite, has class.
He had more early speed than
Johnstown last year, though the
difference was minute. But I don't
think the Kid, as Chico's name goes
in English, is slayer. I think
Johnstown is. How do I know? I
would rather not betray my sources
though if I had any sources, I
would betray them like shot).
No Competition is the dark horse.
This animal ran in the money eight
times in II starts as a 2-year-old,
winning three of those races for
good-sized prizes. He is nicely made
and fair bet to run in the money
again.
You can get real odds on No Com
petition. I mean. I can get real
odds on him. I would not advise
the reader to do so, because that
would spoil the price.
Johnstown and Challedon are
shorter-priced-6, 7 or 8 to de-
pending on where you shop. Ell
Chico is to l, and no investment
at the odds, since there still is a
better than even chance with him,
as with every other Derby nominee,
of a case of bolts, neuritis or un-
dulant fever rising up and putting
him to bed before Derby Day, still
month off. And suppose he does
run, what has he got? Just speed.
And what did Jesse Owens have?
Just-who's talking about Jesse
Owens?
Aside from the three mentioned
above, the entries to watch and
fear are Porter's Mite, Our Mat and
Benefactor. Porter's Mite is sound,
Our Mat has courage and Benefac-
tor will 60 on.
Between us, this show of Derby
knowledge does not impress me, but
I hope it will throw scare into the
Mad Halter of Danbury, whose sup
ply of fedoras trembles in the bal
ance.
(copyright 1899, by the North American
Newspaper Alliance Inc)
NAI