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WEATHER VAGERIES Derby Crowd Treated to Quickly Changing Variety Colonel Winns Luck Holds Good Goodand and Sun Shines as Big BigRace Race Is Run LOUISVILLE Ky May 14 The vagaries of the weatherman were among the con ¬ spicuous incidents of Derby day Cloudy skies sunshine rain and then again sun ¬ shine came in quick succession and added to the general excitement of the occasion occasionMatt Matt Winns luck or Derby Day luck whichever it may be called held good won ¬ derfully when after dire threats of bad weather there was sunshine for the big day There were clouds floating lazily over the course most of the afternoon but the sun shone through them until every fear of rain was dispelled dispelledAnd And with the Derby weather there came a constant improvement in the course itself Tom Young has his harrows out and one marvelled at the change that was wrought in the track surface Earlier in the morning the surface was covered with puddles of water while exercise boys came back from their galloping mud bespattered Then it was that there came a revision of some of the estimates for the big race Then it was that there came a diligent study of the mud running qualities of the various candidates candidatesTRACK TRACK CHEW BUSY BUSYBefore Before 1 oclock the track crew had worked so diligently that there was hopes for going that might be good at least it would not be muddy and there was no chance for it being heavy Those with the strictly fast track horses gathered new confidence while in the camps of the mudders there came the convicition that an ability to race through such going after all was not going to be such an advantage All of this was some niore of the Winn and the Derby Day luck luckAs As the horses went to the post for the sec ¬ ond race there came a break in the luck Clouds that had been drifting so lazily sud ¬ denly massed and there came rain It was ominous for some time as the sun was blocked in its efforts to make good and while in the southwest there was still a promise that all would be clear there was enough rain to send the crowds scurrying to what shelter could be found in the already densely packed stands standsWith With the rain there came a high wind and the sudden change wrought some havoc to the costumes of the fair devotees who had chosen the infield from which to view the racing They were caught over there with lip chance to find shelter and as a natural result there were many carefully selected Derby costumes that were sadly bedraggled But it takes more than a little thing like a bedraggled costume to mar the enthusiasm or lessen the ardor of a Derby crowd crowdHardly Hardly was the race over than there came another grateful break in the clouds the sun peeped through and lady luck was on the job again but there was enough rain to halt the drying out of the track as had been so brightly promised before the sharp shower showerCHANGE CHANGE IX CALCULATIONS When all hope for the track drying out was gone there came a natural change in the estimates of the chances for the different eligibles It had been hoped that the track could be brought back to good and possibly a fast condition before post time for the Derby Superintendent Young had a big force of men hard at it all night long but in the early morning hours the conviction was forced that a fast track was impossible impossibleAnd And while this condition of the going has always been a distinct handicap to some of the eligibles there were others that promised to be benefitted by the soft condition Tom Jlealey who developed Walter J Salmons Black Panther said that his good colt was severely handicapped racing over such a track Both Bostonian winner of the Preakness and his running mate Whiskery which was third in the Preakness have on frequent oc ¬ casions shown an ability to race well through the soft footing Walter M Jeffords Scapa Flow is another that appeared to be bene ¬ fitted by the track surface surfaceHip Hip Rap and Osmand had both shown mud running quality and their supporters were in no sense discouraged by the track condition Then of the ICentuckians Rolled Stocking was generally considered u pos ¬ sibly the best mud runner in that division though Krcd Jr promised to have his chance enhanced by reason of the footing But the Bradley pair Bewlthua and Buddy Bauer promised to find the going a handicap and Jock one of the B McLean hopes is another Jiat does not like soft footing
