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TWrNIY-SIX ENTERED ♦ Large Field Named to Contest for Honors in Coveted Race. •• — Blue Larkspur Remains Favorite with Clyde Van Dusen and Naishapur Most Dangerous. LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 17.— Twenty-six Of the one hundred and fifty-nine original entries for the fifty-fifth running ot the Kentucky Derby are named to st:irt in the famous race tomorrow. Blue Larkspur, favorite ever since the nominations were first made known, still rules as the public choice and will undoubtedly go the post carrying the hopes ol thousands as well as the silks of Col. E. R Bradley, who already has two victories in the Derby to his credit. Blue Larkspur has the outside post position number 26 and will be ridden by Mack Garner. Voltear, the pride of the Dixiana Farm with Steve ODonnel! in the saddle, will start from position number 1, next to the inner rail. The popular colors of H. P. Whitney will be missing, none of his representatives having been sent here for the race, which Mr. Whitney has won twice, with Regret and Whiskery. Chicago devotees of Tacing have three prominent candidates Jn Karl Kitel, Windy City and Minotaur to cheer for. and there are many who believe that this trio will prove formidable factors. The general opinion on the eve of the great race is the Blue Larkspur is the horse to beat, with Clyde Van Dusen, Naishapur, Vol-lear and Windy City the most dangerous •f the remainder of the big field. Predictions are for clear and warmer wealh- Oontinued o* second page. TWENTY-SIX ENTERED Continued from first pace. er with a fast track. All the carded starters are reported in perfect condition, having safely undergone the rigors of extensive training without any serious mishap. It is natural that any race run continuously for fifty-five years should be of vast importance. That would be reason enough for the wonderful appeal of the Kentucky Derby. It matters not whether the race be for a trivial sum or for a bountiful award, its antiquity gives it high place and since its first running in 1875 there has been no sportsman that has not put the sporting importance far over any other award that came with victory. When H. P. McGrahs Aristides, son of Mighty Leamington, was winner in 1875, he earned ,850, but he earned what no amount of money could buy, in being the champion of his year. Year after year there was just the same striving for the Kentucky Derby. While, though the value was increased, it never reached an amount of much more than ,000, it was still the coveted goal of sportsmen and breeders alike. A victory meant more than any other victory of the year. Then came the Old Rosebud year, 1914, j | when it reached the unheard of value of ,125 to the winner. And, as a matter of fact, the time of that remarkable gelding, 2 :03% for the mile and a quarter, still stands as the record for the old classic. That was the beginning of ar. award in j j keeping with the importance of the Kentucky Derby, but it was not until 1922 and the victory of Ben Blacks Morvich that there was 0,000 added to the prize and it had a net value of 3,775 to the son of Runnymede. Col. Matt J. Winn had built the Kentucky Derby to that high and becoming value and, as a matter of fact, he would have gone even further in the princely award had it not been for a gentlemans agreement on the size of the prize. Last year saw the record number of starters, when twenty-two appeared under silks, and it naturally resulted in the high mark for the winner, when Mrs. John D. Hertz Reigh Count, now in England, took down 5,375 for his fair owner. It is fitting that the money award should be in keeping with sporting importance, that is fitting in all racing, for the best horse, should at all times have the opportunity to be champion in money earnings, just as he is champion in sporting accomplishment, but, returning to the original proposition, it takes more than weight of money to make a race I a great one, and if the Kentucky Derby had ; for its award only a cup it would remain one of the greatest of all races, and the race by long odds the greatest public appeal on the American turf. The sectional battles for the prize have had much to do with its importance, just as its importance brought about these sectional battles. Year after year there have been invasions of Kentucky and most of them successful invasions. Kentuckians naturally have a great pride in the Kentucky Derby. It was the one race of all others that they have striven to keep at home. The one race that was their joy and their pride, and time and again the native pride in the prize has reached fighting heat before the running. Rating Edward R. Bradley as a Ken-tuckian, and that is the natural rating for the master of Idle Hour Farm, though in recent years he has raced his first string in New York, he is the only Kentuckian that has won the Kentucky Derby since the 1915 running. Mr. Bradley had two notable triumphs when in 1921 his Behave Yourself was first and Black Servant second, and then in 1926 when his Bubbling Over was first and the stablemate, Bagenbaggage, second. During that same period New York took down the prize with H. P. Whitneys Regret in 1915, and Whiskery, for the same sportsman, in 1927 ; John Sanford won the 1916 running with George Smith; Omar Khavyam won for Billings and Johnson in 1917, and the following year that great gelding. Exterminator, brought victory to the Willis Sharpe Kilmer silks. Then Block scored the next New York victory with Morvich in 1922 and the next year it was Harry F. Sinclairs Zev, then in 1923 Gifford A. Cochran added to the New York score with Flying Ebony. Thus it will be seen that since 1915 New York-owned horses have won eight of the fourteen runnings. The other outlanders that have carried off the great prize have been J. K. L. Ross with a score for Canada, when Sir Barton, starting a maiden, was home the winner in 1919. Then in 1920 Maryland had its score with Ral Parrs Paul Jones. Oklahoma carried away the trophy with Mrs. R. M. Hoots Black Gold in 1924, and last year Illinois was victorious with Mrs. John D. Hertz Reigh Count. This year invading sportsmen do not hold the hand of other renewals and there seems to be a better chance than at any time to keep the prize in its native state, though, as a matter of fact, the Blue Larkspur chance for victory— and he is the outstanding hope of Kentucky — does not appear to be any more rosy than that of magnificent Bubbling Over, which won for Mr. Bradley in 1926. "Im here to see Minotaur win the Derby and whatever you do, dont fail to bet on him." That was the greeting Charlie Graffagnini, New Orleans turfman who sold Minotaur to John R. Thompson, Jr., of Chicago, gave friends as he arrived early this morning having driven over from Maryland in a shining newly purchased Lincoln limousine. "Did you get that out of a claiming race?" some one. asked him, referring to the limousine. "Yes— Minotaur was the policeman," he smilingly replied. But he afterward admitted Hypnotism had done his share. "Minotaur is the toughest luck horse in : the world," said Graffagnini, or maybe its me, the tough luck one. Thats why I sold 1 him. "Mr. Thompson wanted him and when Val Crane sounded me on the price I told him the terms. Frankly, I got 5,000 cash and am to get 5,000 out of the first stake he wins that amounts to 5,000 or more. I figured that if I was jinxing the little horse Id do better to let somebody else give him a chance." The matter of the 5,000 cash, of course, was considered, but there really is lots of sentiment in Graffagnini. He thought Minotaur should have won the Louisiana Derby and thought he should have won the Preakness. He loves Minotaur and no doubt he j would give something to see him win the Kentucky Derby, even though another man would rake down the 0,000 that goes to the winner. , "I tell you he can do it, too," reiterated Graffagnini. "All he needs is an even break in luck. Sure, I hated to part with him. But Im not a rich man, remember, and twenty-five grand is net to be sneezed at. I bought myself three or four good two-year-olds and Im going to try my luck with them. Minotaur and I, as a combination, are jinxed. I decided on that the day he was left in the Louisiana Derby. "No, Im sorry to say, I didnt win a chunk on him the day he paid 51 to 1 in Maryland. I bet 00 to show on him, thats all. You see, the purse was ,000 to the winner and I figured that if he won Id be well repaid. I dont like to risk money betting when you know youll draw down that much money anyhow— if you win. "Ill have a little ticket on him Saturday, however. Dont forget that." John R Thompson, Jr., who bought Minotaur from Graffagnini, is another wealthy Chicagoan to follow the lead of J. J. Cough-lin, John D. Hertz, Val Crane and others into racing. He arrived Saturday with a. party of guests to see Minotaur perform.
