Evening star., 1947-05-03
JET Pilot and FauIiIess
Well Liked in Record
Crowd Of $4,000
fContinued From FIRST Page

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concessionaires, who said they'd
print more than 100 900 programs,
to the harrassed hotel men who
have turned down thousands of
would-be roomers despite the s25-a-
day tax that returned with the end
of rent controls, agreed that the
figure wasn't exaggerated.
Phalanx, Jet Pilot Favorites.
As for the horses, a necessary but
comparatively unimportant factor
in the whole affair, it remained
something Of question whether
rhalanx. the Virginia bred colt
which looked so impressive In recent
outings. or Jet Pilot, the mud-loying
speedster, would attract more In
terest today. AS matter of fact. no
one would concede that any Of the
IA entries didn't have chance.
Not even Ball1einl, the onetime sell
ing platter whose name hadn't even
been mentioned until his name was
dropped into the entry box yes
terday.
Phalanx, Jointly owned by G. ".
Whitney and virginian Abe Hewitt,
continued to hold the favorite's role
he assumed after the Wood Memo
rial. But almost as highly regarded
were the Kentucky-bred Faultless
from Warren Wright's Calumet
Farm and Mrs. Elizabeth Graham's
Sal 900 beauty, Jet Pilot, who still
has the experts talking about the
race he won in the mud on Derby
Day of 1916.
To match Phalanx's victory in the
Wood, Faultless ran off with Hia-
leah's Flamingo Stakes, the Blue
Grass at Keeneland and this weeks
Derby trial. On Trust, from the
California barns of Earl o. stice g.
Sons, took the 100000 Santa Anita
Derby and Mrs. M. E. Whitney,s
pint-sized Bullet Proof literally ran
away from bigger, stronger horses
to win the Chesapeake at Havre de
Grace last Saturday. Those three
accounted for virtually all the years
important 3-year-old races before
the Derby.
Star Reward Called Factor.
But the reckoning also must in
clude Star Reward from Charles T.
Fishers Dixiana Farm and Risko-
lator, owned by Edward s. Moore,
who recently bought part of the
Bradley acreage at Lexington. Be-
sides getting a lot of support from
the Kentucky ''hardboots" who don't
believe winning horse can be de-
veloped in any other State, they've
shown by recent performances that
they can come on in a long race
and move u pom the leaders at the
finish.
Only three of the IA ever has run
the Derby route of mile and a
quarter before. They are On Trust
and movie man Harry M. Warmers
California entry of Stepfather and
w. l.. Sickle, which finished back of
On Trust in that race.
About the others, as one trainer
remarked yesterday, you can't tell
whether a horse can go that far
until YOU try him3aSs 10
The weather for the past few days
has been miserable-either steady
rains or showers-and the track has
suffered accordingly. But that's
nothing new. Since 1927 there have
been 10 rainy Derby days and once
the rain stops, the Churchill Downs
track dries out quickly. Given the
sunny weather predicted for today,
it may be no worse than slow by
post time.
Should Phalanx or Faultless win.
there'd be record performance in
the jocker-trainer department. Ed
die Arcaro, who has the mount on.
the favorite, already has won the
Derby three times and is shooting
for the fourth triumph that would
put him at the head of the list in
front Of Isaac Murphy and Earl
Sande. Ben Jones, who trains
Faultless, has saddIed three Derby
winners and a fourth would put
him in tie with H. j. Derby
Dick" Thompson at the top.
AS for the town itself, it's fan
tastic. After the suppression and
restrictions of the war years, Louis
vile set out to revive the old lets
get-it" spirit of prewar Derby weeks.
Prices skyrocketed, service dropped
to almost nothing as thousands OF
visitors poured into a city which
really can't take care of them. And,
as for the visitors, they paid any
thing that was asked, took what
they could get-and they loved it.