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EXPECT RECORD CROW0 Col Matt Winn Looks for Largest Derby Attendance in History V Requests for Boxes and ReservaJ tions Far Exceed Greatly In creased Accommodations v LOUISVILLE Ky May 3 The record breaking throng expected to see the Ken ¬ tucky Derby tomorrow afternoon is certain evidence that 1935 will be racings biggest year in point of attendance As the voiced opinion of Col Matt J Winn executive di ¬ rector of Churchill Downs and for thirty years a dominant figure in American racing this forecast hardly can fail of fulfillment fulfillmentColonel Colonel Winn feels that not only Churchill Downs will have enjoyed the best meeting it has ever known when it ends two weeks from now but predicts that race courses in all parts of the country will experience com mensurate increases in patronage this year yearThe The man responsible for the popularity and importance of the Kentucky Derby in an interview at the Downs today supported this contention with many poignant facts In the first place he pointed out our in ¬ crease in requests for Derby Day boxes and reservations probably is the best indi cation of an extraordinary season When itj became known that we intended to construct J 200 additional boxes requests running into many hundreds were received before the architect could draw up plans for them It has been that way since early winter and I am quite sure from my long experience that this indication of interest is a real barometer of what is to follow Another point in this connection said Colonel Winn is the phenomenal success of recent seasons at Florida Texas and Cali ¬ fornia tracks It has been my experience that when so many tracks operate success ¬ fully it usually ensues that all tracks enjoy much the same prosperity Racing like other lines continued Colo nel Winn is on the upgrade because condi ¬ tions throughout the country are better than j they were a year ago And Ive found that racing the first to fall off or feel a depres sion also is the first to reflect a recovery This results in my opinion from the fact that a race track is the barometer of money When it is plentiful betting is brisk when it is not race track betting is first to de ¬ cline I IContinuing Continuing to place credit where it is due the genial director of Churchill Downs afl fairs also attributes the increased interest j in the Derby in particular and in racing in general to the opening of new fields to the sport It must be recognized Colonel Winn pointed out that when racing enjoys such popularity as prevails in the new territories as in New England and other sections that the greater racemindedness also is felt here and elsewhere This is substantiated by the fact that many of the applicants for Derby j accommodations who never before had indi cated a desire to see the race are residents of sections where racing has only been re cently revived or introduced introducedHaving Having met the increased demand for capacity for perhaps as many as 100000 this year Colonel Winn believes that the time is not far distant when Churchill Downs will have to accommodate again that many persons In fact he envisions the time when the stands completely encircling the track will be necessary to take care of all who want to see this great face Stands club house lawn boxes and pavillions to be used tomorrow extend almost half way around the mile main course over which the historic race is run which gives some idea of the immensity of the present facilities f fWith With all these transformations intended to make it possible for as many as desire to j see this race the natural setting much the same as when the first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875 still prevails Colonel Winn has seen to that thatFeeling Feeling as he does that the background of this race has had a great deal to do with its continued growth and popularity the colonel is definitely set against any drastic changes in the general scheme of things at Churchill Downs That is he plans no swing to the mechanical totalizators and other auto ¬ matons which insofar as he is concerned arc overrated and not foolproof foolproofMuch Much of the color is lost through the sub ¬ stitution of too much machinery I am afraid that it js being overdone at some tracks Some people of course go for novel ¬ ties the majority however and I am speak ¬ ing for racing prefer the color of some of our older systems For example how much would be taken from the Derby if the field was started blind as from some of the sug ¬ gested mechanical starting gates Other sug ¬ gested substitutes for manual force would result in similar conditions in other phases of racing racingIn In this defense of the color traditions and historical background of the Derby which he almost single handed has developed from just an ordinary race to Americas greatest annual turf event Colonel Winn no doubt is influenced by his very first impression of the race As a boy Colonel Winn travelled to Churchill Downs in his fathers grocery wagon to see this contest of horses While at that time however the race was greatly overshadowed by other sporting events in this country the spectacle made an indel ¬ ible impression on young Winn as nothing else was to guide him during his long term as impresario of this turf extravaganza Strange extravaganzaStrange though it may seem the Derby of 1889 staged years before Colonel Winn took over the management of the Downs and in which Spokane defeated Proctor Knott along with six others gave him his greatest thrill It was a year after Colonel Winns marriage and with all Louisville backing Proctor Knott he upset the tenor of a de ¬ lightful Derby party by betting on Spokane He was 10 to 1 said the colonel and Tom Rodegap gave me the tip Continued on eleventh page EXPECT RECORD CROWD CROWDContinued Continued from first page He not only won but ran the distance In record time a record never equalled while the race was at a mile and a half A week later the two horses met again in the Clark Stakes with Proctor Knott still the favorite I bet on Spokane and he again finished in front They met next in the American Derby in Chicago and while Proctor Knott was the favorite Spokane won the race and I had an ¬ other little wager For their next race Spo ¬ kane was the choice I switched to Proctor Knott and he turned the tables on his rival The great race between Twenty Grand and Equipoise in their twoyearold year for the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs was the next most exciting among all the hundreds yes thousands of races Colonel Winn has watched Twenty Grand covered the mile of that race in 136 which still stands as a worlds record for twoyearolds He doubts if that perform ¬ ance over a course with one turn will ever be closely approached let alone equalled by a twoyearold with his weight up
