Seeing Is Believing

"We've got a grab-bag Derby this year," said Bill Corum. president of Churchill Downs. Jockey Eddie Arcaro agreed: "I wouldn't be surprised if any one of 15 horses wins it." Added Greentree Stables' Trainer John Gaver: "This will be the damnedest rat race of all time."

The crowd of 100,000-plus was inclined to bet on men, rather than horses. Arcaro got the biggest play and the favorite's role, at 12-5, not so much because he had one of the better mounts in Battle Morn, but because he had already won the Kentucky Derby four times. Said one trainer: "I'd bet on Arcaro if he were riding a pogo stick."

Second choice, on recent form, was the C. V. Whitney entry of Mameluke and Counterpoint, at 6-1. Third choice (13-2) was Calumet Farm's Plain Ben Jones, five-time-winning Derby trainer, who said in the traditional Jones manner that he really hadn't planned to start "little old" Fanfare against those "big, powerful Derby horses."

Going Away. Although the "field" offered bettors five horses for the price of one, it went off at 15-1. From flag fall to finish, it looked like the overlay (disproportionate odds) everyone was looking for.

At the half-mile and three-quarter posts, a field horse named Phil D. led the pack. Then Repetoire (8-1), winner of four straight stakes events this year, made his bid; in front at the mile, he folded in the stretch. Meanwhile, another field horse, Count Turf, had moved into contention. The Count threw up his head at the roar of the crowd, got a couple of solid whacks from Jockey Conn McCreary's bat, and took over the lead. From there to the finish, Count Turf poured it on, and the crowd goggled in amazement.

The glossy bay won going away, by a full four lengths over 53-1 Royal Mustang. Third, by a head, was strong-finishing Ruhe, winner of the Arkansas Derby. Phil D. was fourth, Fanfare fifth, Battle Morn sixth, Counterpoint. eleventh, Mameluke 20th and dead last. Count Turf's winning time for the mile-and-a-quarter grind (over a fast track): 2:02 3/5, fourth fastest in the Derby's 77-year history. The winner's purse: $98,050, a record Derby jackpot.

Bred to Stay. It was a big day for Jockey McCreary, 30, who won the 1944 Derby on Pensive and almost gave up riding last year after a streak of bad breaks. As he hugged the traditional wreath of roses, McCreary said happily: "They smell pretty--smell like money" (10% of the purse).

For Russian-born Trainer Sol Rutchick, it was a frustrating but satisfactory day. He missed his morning plane from New York, and did not see Count Turf live up to his breeding expectations. Son of Count Fleet, winner of the 1943 Derby, Count Turf is a grandson of Reigh Count, the 1928 victor. Six Derby winners have sired winners; Count Turf is the first winner's grandson to win.

Knowing that his colt was bred to stay, and hoping to prove his Derby caliber, Rutchick winter-raced the Count in Florida, where he ran in good company but without much success. As a builder-upper, Rutchick supplemented the colt's hay and oats with a daily quota of four ounces of imported Italian olive oil ("for plenty of vitamins"). The Count laps it up.

While Trainer Rutchick listened to the radio account of the race, Owner Jack Amiel, a gruff, bluff Broadway restaurant owner, was having the time of his life in Louisville. In ten years as an owner, Amiel has never before had a "big" horse. He bought Count Turf at the yearling sales--for only $3,700--because "he looked like Count Fleet." After the Count's triumph, Amiel phoned his wife and tearfully told her: "He won it all by himself, Ethel--you'll see it in the movies, Ethel."

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