Horses to Beat

For this time of year, it was oddly quiet in the blue-grass country of Kentucky. As a matter of fact, there had not been much talk about the wonders of homebred hay-burners since an upstart Texan named Assault romped off with the 1946 Derby. Now a fresh crop of upstarts was taking dead aim on the 1947 Derby target.

But so was a Kentucky-bred named Faultless--and it was just possible that the Kentuckians were keeping quiet because they knew they had a good thing. Big, brown Faultless was born within 70 miles of Derbyville. on Calumet Farm's 1,038 fat acres. In March he won Florida's $50,000 Flamingo Stakes with ease; last week, he made three rivals look silly in a warm-up at nearby Keeneland.

The colonels grinned sheepishly. They could be pretty sure that crafty Ben Jones, the Calumet trainer, had things under control--even if he did come from Missouri. Ben's record proved conclusively that he knew how to saddle a Kentucky Derby winner: Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944). Faultless was the Kentucky horse to beat.

California's hope was husky On Trust, who ran away from his opposition in March's $100,000 Santa Anita Derby. His veteran jockey, Johnny Longden, thought he knew a Derby horse when he rode one, and he liked On Trust's chances. Willie Molter, the nation's leading trainer last year, said that On Trust was the most knowing race horse he had ever worked with. On the figures, as the one Derby candidate who had run and won a mile and a quarter test, Molter's colt was the horse to beat.

Kentuckians were more worried about C. V. Whitney's Virginia-bred Phalanx, a flop-eared bay with a peculiar hobbyhorse stride. Nobody had heard much about him last year until the two-year-olds began to go a distance of ground; then Phalanx showed a liking for the sport. Says Trainer Sylvester Veitch: "He's not hard to handle, but he'd just as soon step on you as not." Smart but rather overbearing, Phalanx is built-to-order for the rough, mile-and-a-quarter Derby grind. He isn't fussy whether the track is dry or muddy.

This week, Phalanx' Derby odds took a tumble to 2-1 (Faultless, 3-1; On Trust, 6-1). At that price, he was definitely a horse to beat. Phalanx, lagging less than usual, had just copped one division of Jamaica's $40,000 Wood Memorial. He ran the mile and a sixteenth, apparently under wraps, in 1:43 4/5. His jockey, long-nosed Eddie Arcaro, is the best stakes rider in the business and he is just as intent as Calumet's Ben Jones on winning his fourth Derby.

At Churchill Downs, Phalanx & Arcaro will keep a sharp eye on several other hopefuls, including Elizabeth Arden's mud-loving speedster, Jet Pilot (10-1) and Double Jay (8-1), who was rated by many as last year's champion two-year-old.

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