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Here and There on the Turf, Momentous Week Line on Derby Hopes New York Improvement Bookmaker Slates Chicago Racing Near This is the week leading up to the sixty-first running .of the Kentucky, Derby and it promises to be a momentous one, even for Matt Winn, who has seen all the other runnings of the Churchill Downs classic and who takes the most important occasions without being called upon to quicken his stride. Churchill Downs racing was inaugurated Saturday and by the time Derby Day comes around, the meeting will be going along smoothly. That is Winns principal worry, right now, except possibly the weather, because preparations for the Derby r.re well nigh complete right now. All the boxes and reserved seats have been sold Continued on twenty-ninth page.. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page. for weeks and the job of rehabilitating the clubhouse and grandstand at the veteran Louisville course was completed before the opening, except for a few minor details. With a majority of the leading Derby aspirants either performing in the Wood Memorial Stakes at Jamaica or the Cherokee Purse at Churchill Downs, the public today has a pretty fair idea of the make up of the starting field for Americas most popular race, also a good line on the identity of the post favorite Other Derby hoDefuls will be brought to the post in a trial event at Churchill Downs Tuesday afternoon, while still others may be expected to undergo their final stiff preparations for the mile and a quarter grind either Tuesday or Wednesday. By the middle of the week all the starters should bev- assembled at Churchill Downs and Friday may mark the arrival of most of the spectators coming from afar. Changing his mind about giving Commonwealth a race over the week-end, trainer Preston Burch called upon Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords Derby hope for the stiffest workout yet asked of any candidate. The Bos-tonian gelding was sent over the full mile and a quarter distance of the race at Havre de Grace Friday and was timed in 2:07, going smoothly all the way. Commonwealth, which showed a good effort in being a close third back of Plat Eye and Sun Fairplay in the Chesapeake Stakes, his lone start of the year, probably only requires another good trial to be at tops for the Derby, and trainer Burch may be expected to give him that workout at Churchill Downs unless he decides on starting him at the Louisville course. Commonwealth possesses a very strong following in Maryland, and Kentuck-ians fear him as much as any other contestant coming from the East. Step by step the conduct of the New York racing is being modernized as under the direction of the State Racing Commission antiquated customs are being scrapped. Beginning with the opening of Belmont Park, entries will be closed at 11 ooclclc instead of at 1:30 oclock, as has been the rule for many years, Saratoga only excepted. Racing secretary John B. Campbell believes he has a better chance of making up more attractive programs with the earlier closing and, after talking with numerous horsemen, he recommended the change. With the entries out earlier, the information will reach the newspapers and therefore the public that much sooner, with the result that more interest will be displayed in the sport. Another improvement to be expected very shortly will be the addition of jockeys names on the program cards, thereby making that bit of cardboard more worth the dime charged for it. One of these days the bookmakers on the metropolitan tracks will be privileged to hoist slates that a person can see from ten feet away. When this is done, much of the crowdedness in the betting ring will be eliminated because it will not be necessary for patrons to mill around the bookie stands to obtain the information they desire. There doesnt appear any good reason why the change to larger slates cannot be made immediately. It certainly isnt a sin to wager on a horse and, with the sport on the metropolitan circuit being conducted in the finest manner possible, there can be no comeback if the change is made to make betting information more accessible to the public. When conditions in the ring are improved, track "management will see still the upward trend in patronage maintained. Gradually the number of books at Jamaica have increased as -the meeting has gained momentum, but with money still a trifle scarce it may be for the best interests of all concerned that the total should be kept down. Volume play enables a bookmaker to offer a better set of prices, as was the case during the first half of last season, there were too many layers for the business given them. The fewer number of books also serves to lessen congestion in the ring, one of the principal complains of present day racing fans. Apparently a return of some bookmakers to the .clubhouse would aid the New York tracks. Since the commissioners all went into the main ring last year the clubhouses on the metropolitan circuit have been singularly empty, even on big days. Chicago racing for 1935 begins Wednes-day when the Fox Valley Jockey Club will open a meeting at Aurora that will close on Friday, May 24, with the running of the 0,000 added Illinois Derby. Much money has been spent on the old Fair Grounds track at Aurora during the past few months to put it in better condition than it has been in years and, should Joseph Cattarin-ich and his associates be able to present better horses than has been the case in the past, the meeting may prove highly successful.
