Evening star., 1941-05-04


old Italian mite who probably Is
the best jockey in the country They
made an unbeatable team as Arcaro
curbed Whirlaway's
tendency to run wide at the turns,
and the great colt gave Arcaro more
last-quarter speed than Eddie,
Derby victor before, ever dreamed
was possible. Indeed. if Arcaro ever
doubted the ability of Whirlaway on
that breath taking trip around the
huge, lightning-faSt oval, he was
not alone. The crowd which had
soured on Whirlaway for disap-
pointing performances through Civ
ing away too many lengths at the
turns, rallied back to the Wright
banner before post time and in
stalled him a surprise favorite at
5-to-2 on the electric odds board.
A few minutes later, as the pack
sprang from the barrier, the crowd
forgot Whirlaway.
Dispose Goes to Front.
Dispose, fourth-ranking betting
favorite, shot out Of the barrier with
Staretor and Blue Pair, dropped
back bit as the field jockeyed for
positions throughout the first half
mile, and then roared to the front
at the three-quarter mark. Dispose
took 2-length lead over Blue Pair
and held it as Porter's Cap replaced
Blue Pair as the chief contender.
Whirlaway, ostensibly, was no.
where. Sixth down the stretch,
Wright's steed dropped back to
eighth at the half mile. At the
three-quarter mark Whirlaway was
sixth again, but 8l2 lengths behind
Dispose. At the mile he was fourth,
although Dispose still led him by
the same margin.
Then with bewildering sWiftness
a devil-red shirt began to flash over,
inside and around horses. His long,
light-brown tail trailing in the
breeze like a 5-foot banner, Whirla-
way made the rest seem as If they
were standing still He raced ahead
of the pack so quickly there was
some doubt as to whether he last
passed Dispose, Blue Pair, Staretor
or Porter's Cap. For one brief in
slant, as the leaders hit the home
stretch, it looked as if there might
be a flve-horse dead heat, but
Whirlaway felt like running and
the others were finished.
Arcaro Sticks to Rail.
How he did it may remain a mvs.
terry to racing people but Arcaro
kept the colt on the rail throughout,
There was no running wide today
Tor Wh1rlaway. The job that Arcaro
did was the work of a master rider.
just as was Arcaros feat in 1888
OF bringing Lawrin home in the
Derby.
For Wright. who twice in the
past had tried to win the Derby
with Bull Lea and the filly, Nellie
Flag, 1t was his first victory. Wright,
only owner in the race who ranked
among turf's old families, received
S61,275 Of the S87775 purse for the
victory. Whirlaway, winner of ST.
275 as a 2-year-old and S6,776 as a
3-year-old prior to today's race, now
has won for Wright a total of s145,-
326 since last summer.
Whirlaway paid $3.50 to win, a
fat price in view of the way he won,
His place and show prices were SIS
and s4.40. Staretor was the horse
to have bet, the gelding paying
$3.50 to place and SIT to show,
Market Wise returned show hackers
$1,000.
Some idea of how completely
stunning was Whirlaway's victory
today was presented by the mutueI
betting on the Derby. As against
last years s465,149, ightest wager
ing since 1885, some 10000 people
today bet S654,353 on the classic.
This figure stands as the highest
since the pre-depression Derby of
May, 1929. Unquestionably, the big
reason why last years handle was
so small was because of BimeIech,
which was made a favorite at 40
cents on the dollar. Kentuckians
did not want to bet on any colt at
that price, neither would they wager
against one of their own, and more
especially, against one of Col. E. r.
Bradley's entries.
Losers Without Excuses.
None of the other horses had any
excuses. Dispose ran himself out
and Little Wonder, the King Ranch
star was setting burning pace as
he tried to get away from the pack
at his heels. Our Boots, a 4-to-l
shot on the board, never got closer
than fourth and that was at the
half-mile pole. Porter's Cap, 3-to-1,
made his bid at the mile pole, when
he moved to second, but that effort
left him spent. He limped home q
bad fourth.
Robert Morris, well-I liked although
IL to l, dropped back after showing
little early speed. Little Beans was
outclaSsed, as was Blue Pair. ONLY
Staretor and Market Wise ran any
kind of race.
AS the crowd surged on to the
track and loudly acclaimed what
is considered a great champion,
Arcaro grinned from ear to ear.
He had ridden Lawrin but that was
just another Derby. Lawrin re-
quired over three seconds more to
run the distance than Whirlaway.
Today Arcaro had ridden a real
speedster and it was a proud boy
from Newport, KY, who rode back
to the judges stand and accepted
the wreath of roses and the personal
congratulations of Gov. Keen john
son of Kentucky.
Col. Matt Winn, almost 80-year-
old boss of the Derby Gould nnk