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FIELD OF TWELVE CERTAIN FOR AMERICAN DERBY Latest Check of Prospective Starters Indicates at Least a Dozen Foremost Three YearOlds of Year Omaha Excepted to Strive for Rich Prize arid Honor of Winning Chicagos Most Famous Race HOMEWOOD 111 June 20 When the black colt Roman Soldier leads the Iparade to the post Saturday for the twentyseventh running of the historic 25000 added American Derby at Washington Park a field of at least eleven other of Amer ¬ icas top threeyearolds will be under silks to contest for the rich prize with him A final check of contenders and their preparation for the famous mile and a quarter fixture indicates that regardless of track conditions a field of twelve is the mini ¬ mum With several doubtful eligibles and a few lastminute possibilities the Ameri ¬ can Derby field may go as high as fourteen There has never been anv doubt as to the major contenders and all of them have trained satisfactorily for the American Derby Late changes resulted from the de ¬ cision of A A Baroni to send Ann ORuley after an overnight purse Friday and pjob ably to withdraw her from the Derby and from the decision to start Walter M Jef fords Judy OGrady in the stake after she had turned in a good mile and a furlong work morningThe yesterday morning The doubtful starters seem to be Hal Price Headleys Whopper which would be sent only if the track were fast and the Milky Way Farms Blue Armor which has hardly done enough in the morning to be up to a mile and a quarter quarterPOWERFUL POWERFUL FIELD All in all the field shapes up as one of the most powerful that has faced an Ameri ¬ can Derby starter since the stake was re ¬ vived ten years ago With such threeyear olds as Roman Soldier Black Helen Blood root Firethorn Blackbirder Count Arthur Tearout Cold Shoulder and Nellie Flag named the list may well include the even ¬ tual threeyearold champion of 1935 Race ¬ goers have been convinced by the bold statement of trainer Phil Router that Ro ¬ man Soldier is a greatly improved horse and that Omaha still has him to beat before he can be acclaimed threeyearold cham ¬ pion pionThe The opportunity to see a new ruler of the threeyearolds in the making is perhaps the most important factor in arousing the strong interest that midwestern racegoers are showing in this twentyseventh running of the American Derby Another factor of course is the long tradition which is asso ¬ ciated with the stake in the minds of Chicago followers of the thoroughbred Since its first running in 1884 when Ed Corrigans Modesty came home the winner under an excellent ride by Isaac Murphy the Ameri ¬ can Derby has always served as the out ¬ standing turf holiday of the Chicago season seasonJEXPECT JEXPECT RECORD CROWD CROWDThis This running will be no exception In fact from the heavy demand that has been evidenced for reservations the attendance promises to run well above that of the last few seasons and may prove to be the largest crowd of the local racing year Special yearSpecial train service and parking facilities the handling of wagers automatically by the huge new totalisator and the physical im Continued on fifteenth page FIELD OF TWELVE CERTAIN FOR AMERICAN DERBY DERBYContinued Continued from first page provements in the plant will prevent any congestion no matter how large the Derby throng turns out to be and will permit the running off of the sparking eightrace card as quickly as upon any ordinary Sat ¬ urday i iAs As far as the race itself is concerned experienced observers can see nothing but1 Roman Soldier against the field Although the black colt has beeri on the track in the morning only once since his Detroit Derby victory Saturday that was when he breezed a quarter in 28 tliis morning he requires only light work and his long campaign has made him just about as fit as a horse can be beThe The tough racing strip that improves his chances seems certain to prevail for the Derbys running despite the jfact that wind and some sunshine took some moisture from the track today The rains of the past week have been so continuous that they have made the racing strip very deep and even though it will be worked over constantly between now and Saturday afternoon it will be a miracle if it has returned to good con dition by then thenIt It was in the most difficult condition of the week when a final handful of Derby candidates were out to work this morning Firethorn and Judy OGrady which will carry the silks of Walter M Jeffords in tha stake were sent a mile and a furlong breez ing with Firettiorn finishing in 204 and Judy OGrady in 204 Firethorns fractions were 51 119 and 148 The filly went in 51 119 and 149 149Whopper Whopper was breezed along at a two minute clip to do a mile and a furlong in 215 Blackbirder just arrived from Detroit where he finished third in the Detroit Derby 4 was on the track but only galloped a mila M and a half
