POPULAR CHOICES

NOBLE KING : TAJ AKBAR

(From "The Post's" Representative.)

LONDON, May 9.

Two genuine colts have come into prominence this week with qualifica- | tions to win the Derby, so the situation has become unexpectedly difficult and open. The two late aspirant's are in the stable at Newmarket presided over by Mr. Frank Butters. One, the Aga Khan's Taj Akbar, came "out of the blue" to win the Chester Vase, and then Sir A. Butt's Noble King carried oft the Dee Stakes. Both events are the length of the Derby journey. With four entries—three being colts owned by the Aga Khan—Mr. Butters seems to hold a strong hand. J. Lawson, the Manton trainer, has Lord Astor's two, Pay Up and Plaster Cast, and there are many pople who have some regard for the Manton-trained Raeburn, belonging to Mr. Hollingsworth.

Noble King won the Dee Stakes on the saucer-like Roodee track by five jlengths from Magnet. Magnet is not in the Derby, but he gained a striking victory at Newmarket over St. Magnus, who is an entry for the Epsom event. ' "

Taj Akbar and Noble King can go to Epsom "jewelled" (says "Hotspur") in every movement. He adds: "It is !doubtful whether, in the history, of racing, there was ever a trainer who could, a few weeks before the race, take a more complacent view of the Derby than can Frank Butters. He has Taj Akbar and Noble King, who have proven.themselves well in the races in which they have already taken part this year, and he has Bala Hissar and Mahmoud, who were accounted two of the thre ebest colts of last season, Mahmoud, giving 131b to Noble King, finished a long way behind him in the Greenham Plate at Newbury, and then lost the Two Thousand Guineas by only a head to Pay Up. Which is going to be the best of the four on Derby Day? That is a question which only the day and the hour can decide. It would not be surprising to see Taj Akbar become favourite for the race, for the time at least. Ttte excellence of his last two performances stands out, and it is impossible to argue a case against his chance in the Derby."

Noble King has been backed for the Derby with good money, and his success at Chester was to the liking of many folk.