European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 29, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse S cd tuesday april 29, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 25 by de Schuyler or. A racing writer Louisville by. A for All his credentials As the Early favorite in next sat urday s Kentucky Derby Snow chief also is a California bred Colt with plebeian blood lines. In the Derby that combination has not been the ticket for Success. Though quite a few 3-year-Olds with less than Royal bloodlines have won the race Only three California Beds have done it. That gives California a one win Edge Over England which won with Omar Khayyam in 1917 and Tomy Lee in 1959. English bred bold arrangement who made his . Debut when he finished third in the Blue grass stakes thursday will be one of Snow chiefs challengers. Of the fewer than 50 California Beds who have contested America s most famous horse race the Only ones to Wear the win Ner s Blanket of roses were Morvich in 1922, swaps in 1955 and decidedly in1966. Morvich was favored to win the Derby. So were five other California Beds who were beaten your Host. 1950 correlation 1954 Candy spots 1963 Hill Rise 1964, and unconscious 1971. The Only two to get on the Board were Hill Rise who finished second and Candy spots who was third. One of the most popular California Beds to run in the Derby was Silky Sullivan who came from far Back to win the Santa Anita Derby and other races on the West coast. He finished 12th in 1958. There have been a lot of Derby starters who represented California because they were based there. Two of them were Majes tic Prince the winning favorite in 1969, and Gato Del sol the upset Winner in 1982. Both were bred in Kentucky. Four other California based Colts Are set to run in saturday s Derby. They Are Fla Mingo Winner Badger land Ferdinand Vernon Castle and and icy Groom. All were bred in Kentucky which has produced 84 Derby winners Many of them when the race was of regional rather than National importance. Snow chief with Alex soils up after winning Santa Anita Derby by six lengths. 5th straight stakes win for California bred Colt libero fourth in the $l,500-added Derby of 1886, and Morvich were the Only two California Beds to Start in the race before1945. There is a flourishing Breeding Industry in California but most of the Good horses based there during their racing careers Are not involved in it. They go East to stand at stud especially in these Days of multimillion Dollar syndication. I buy a lot of Cal Beds said Mel Stute who trains Snow chief. I enjoy accomplishing things with them. I be never had the clients to go to the Kee Neland sales where yearlings have been sold for As much As $13 million. By pick but Snow chief was t bought. The son of an undistinguished sire and dam was bred by co owner Carl grins Lead. Now he can t be bought just syndicated. After Snow chiefs six length Victory Over icy Groom in the Santa Anita Derby on april 6, Eddie Gregson icy Groom s Trainer was quoted As saying he s the measure by which you decide whether you be got a Kentucky and he s a Kentucky Derby horse for the Public imagination. The Colt trained by Mel Stute and rid Den by Alex Solis is owned by grins cad and Ben Rochelle. Grinstead who operated a company that supplied electronic instruments to the mis Sile Industry before retiring in 1967, is a California breeder who once trained horses. Rochelle is a los Angeles real estate Developer who for 25 years formed the Vaude Ville comedy dance act of Rochelle and Beebe with his late wife. Snow chief was bred at Grinstead s Blue Diamond ranch. His sire reflected glory who recently was retired stood for a fee of $2,000, which is pocket change in the Breeding Industry. His dam earned $2,308 in a five race career in Mexico. She won once at Tijuana. Snow chief won five of nine starts in 1985, with two seconds and a third and earned $935,740 a record for a 2-Ycar old thoroughbred. He opened his 3-year-old Campaign by winning the seven Furlong California breeders championship under Kentucky Derby weight of 126 pounds. Then he be came racing s 79th and youngest million Aire by winning the Al Camino real Derby. In his last two starts he impressively won the Florida Derby and the Santa Anita Derby each at 1 is Miles. I want do do a Little soft shoe in the Winner s Circle at the Kentucky Derby Rochelle has said. Perhaps to a rousing rendition of Cali fornia Here i Ainge knows Jackson s by Hal Bock a sports writer Boston a the pass was tossed inbound by Atlanta s Cliff Levingston rather routinely. It was after All the kind of thing he s done a thousand times. This time though it Hung up there sort of like a curve Ball that does t curve. Boston s Danny Ainge familiar with the syndrome jumped grabbed the Ball and in one sweeping motion was alone in the Lane driving for the Basket. Two Points celtics. Ainge hit eight of 10 shots one a three Pointer grabbed five rebounds had five steals and four assists sunday and the cel tics were 103-91 winners Over the Hawks in the opening game of their Aba second round playoff series. Now if Only it was that easy to hit a curve Ball. There was a time when Ainge thought that was what he would be doing As a professional athlete. He faced much the same situation As Auburn s to Jackson an out standing baseball player with the Good ath Letic Fortune to be equally outstanding in another sport As Well. Jackson s other game is football. He won the Heisman trophy and will be the no. 1 pick in the nil draft tuesday. Ainge s was basketball. He was the collegiate player of the year but ignored by the Aba in the 1981 draft. That s because he had already made a commitment to baseball. He had signed a professional contract with the Toronto Blue jays straight out of High school and played baseball in the summer while continuing with basketball at Brigham Young univer up Phot Auburn s to Jackson. Will he pick baseball Over pro football sity in the Winter. The Blue jays then a struggling expansion franchise searching for identification were delighted to have Ainge especially when he began making basketball headlines at by. They May however have been guilty of Rushing him. I never went to Spring training Ainge said sounding a Little Wistful at missing the most relaxed time in a baseball year. I went from High school and american legion Ball right to opening Day in triple it was a Little bit of culture Shock for a teen Ager who had t even played College baseball. There s no comparison with the level of play he said. Why had Ainge decided on baseball people told me there was More longevity a better lifestyle and the travel was not As vigor Ous he said. All those were they Are probably the same arguments Jackson is weighing in his mind right now. Those and the Choice of an instant ticket to the top rung of football against at least a year or two in baseball s minor leagues. Ainge chose the minors although the Choice was t an exact parallel. While he was doing his baseball apprenticeship in the summer he also was playing major College basketball at by in the Winter. Jackson must pick one sport or the other now. By 1979, Ainge had reached the major leagues with Toronto. He played parts of three seasons there batting .220 in 211 games. He was it is fair to say not an instant hit. Curve balls have victimized a few phenoms before you know. The shrewd celtics who rarely miss an Opportunity to outsmart the opposition Larry Bird remember was drafted As a Junior eligible future Choice picked Ainge in the second round in 1981 As the 31st selection of the draft. Then there was a Messy court Case with the Blue jays to free Ainge from his base Ball contract. I m not sorry i played baseball he said. It was a great experience. There Are pleasant memories and Good friends Guys i played with like current Toronto players Garth Lorg and Willie Upshaw and against like Boston s Bruce Hurst. I talked to them a lot i Root for them All the Way. When they won their division and were in the playoffs last year it was like i was there with them. I m grateful for the Opportunity by gave me to play baseball in the summer. It helped me to make my decision to play so to can you hit the curve Chicksands Lovejoy wins Safe darts Crown Raf Ben Waters England is three players from bases in the United kingdom swept the top places in the annual Safe darts championships Here Over the weekend. Fifty one players took part in the two Day Competition and the Overall Winner sunday was David Lovejoy of Raf Chick Sands. The runner up was Mickie Cockrell of Raf Ben Waters. Third place went to Jeffery Floyd of Raf Lakenheath
