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CHURCHILL DOWNS OPENS DERBY MEETING TODAY 3 1 Interest in Sixty-Second Renewal of Famous Fixture Increases Clark Handicap Heads Inaugural Program Brevity? Coldstream and Other Stars Among Overnight Entries Conditions Point to Record Meeting LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24. Influenced by the magic of the Kentucky Derby, Amef4 icas premier race to be run on Saturday, May 2, national turf interest swings to Churchill Downs with the opening tomorrow of a nineteen-day spring meeting at that picturesque and historical course. Seldom if ever has a Louisville meeting aroused such enthusiasm as this sixty-second annual spring session now at hand, and the keen and widespread interest with which it has been awaited has engendered optimism on every . side. While evidence that the season may prove the most successful since 1929 abounds in many forms, none perhaps is more striking than the enormous increase in Derby interest over past ? years. "As the Derby goes, so goes the meeting," is an old saying among the racing folic of this section, and, with the Derby beckoning a record crowd, Churchill Downs has, by that old rule, every right to look forward to a banner season, possibly the most successful in every respect in all its long and glamourous history. Other factors pointing to a bumper meeting are general conditions, a marked improvement in the class of horses assembled for the session, increased outlay in stake3 and purses and the greater popularity of racing resulting from its vast expansion of the past several years. Taking cognizance of these certain signs of greater interest and import attaching to Churchill Downs, Col. M. J. Winn, director of the course, some time ago went on record with the prediction that 1936 would see some, if not many, new standards created here. He forecast a record Derby crowd, possibly the most spectacular race for that prize ever staged and a full season of racing more attractive than ever before. EXPECT RECORD CROWD. A few days ago Colonel Winn took oo casion to reveal that the demand for Derby day reserved boxes this year has been approximately 50 per cent greater than the supply of 2,600, and at the same time remarked that this indication of public attention to Churchill Downs racing was mora than enough to cause him to believe that the season opening tomorrow will eclipse all that have gone before. Colonel Winn does not stand alone in hia opinion that 1936 will see a decided upturn in racing tides in Kentucky, the home of the thoroughbred. Supporting him are many others long in intimate contact with the sport in the Blue Grass State, and the feeling is that this will prove a prosperous year in general. Churchill Downs opening inaugurates not only a new season in this state, but a new one in the central West, that includes meetings at Latonia and Dade Park, also in Kentucky, and meetings at tracks in Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. While the Kentucky Derby is of primary importance during this meeting, more immediate attention is being given to the renewal tomorrow of the Clark Handicap, one mile and a sixteenth feature for horses of three years and older, which will have an added value of ,000. Vying for public attention on the same inaugural program is the seven-, furlong Sophomores Purse, which will bring out a number of eligibles for the Derby. BREVITY BIG ATTRACTION. With Brevity a carded starter in the latter, race, it threatens to overshadow the Clark, for the Derby favorite is scheduled to encounter such formidable candidates for the three-year-old classic as Coldstream, He Did, Sangreal, Bien Joli, Silas. Coldstream also was entered in the Clark, but it is expected that trainer Alec Gordon will send him in the seven-furlong race. Seventeen accepted the issue in the Sophomores Purse and only one of the more important Derby hopefuls was drawn into the "also eligible" bracket. He was E. R. Bradleys Banister, but, since Bien Joli was listed among the first twelve, the race loses little of its glamour, as the latter is considered the stronger of the two Idle Hour Derby candidates. As there probably will be some withdrawals, there still is a chance that Banister will become a starter. As it is, however, the race provides an Continued on twenty eighth vaae.1 CHURCHILL DOWNS OPENS DERBY MEETING TODAY Continued from first page. ideal preview of some of the outstanding Kentucky Derby horses, and the outcome of the contest may have an important bearing on the personnel of the field which parades to the post in quest of top honors in the three-year-old fixture next Saturday. Among the lesser lights of the Derby horses scheduled to match strides in the Sophomores are Noble Star, a stablemate of Coldstream; Watercure and Zsar, with Wise Duke, Boston Pal and Judge Kavanagh in the "also eligible" group. The Clark promises one of the finest runnings of that long standing fixture, for, in addition to the Derby horses, Coldstream and Erin Torch, it attracted fourteen others, among them St. Bernard, stablemate of Coldstream; Ariel Cross, Corinto, Whiskolo, Chasar, Brown Feathers, Gilbert Elston and Likewise. Actual top weight of 116 pounds will be shouldered by St. Bernard and Ariel Cross. Corinto, next in the weights, is assigned 114 pounds, while Whiskolo will have up 113. Required to carry 109 pounds should he start in the Clark, Coldstream is the top weight of the classy field by the scale. Weights for the others range down to a minimum of ninety-seven for the unfashionable Riff, which appeared badly placed here. Early speculation indicated that Brevity would go to the post a pronounced favorite for the Sophomores Purse while St. Bernard and Ariel Cross are likely to share favoritism in the Clark. Six other races, two of them given over to juveniles, complete the program which is by far the finest for an opening day here in several years. The sparkling series of races will be presented under ideal conditions unless the elements should revolt as the weather today was perfect and the track fast. While the results of two other races to be run here on Monday, and another the following lay, and the Wood Memorial Stakes at Jamaica tomorrow are expected to have some bearing on the composition of the Derby field, it now appears probable that as many as twenty or more will contest for the purse and glory which that 0,000 fixture holds. Still standing out as the choice and likely to retain that enviable honor unless he disappoints tomorrow, is Brevity, with others high up in the esteem of racing followers, including Coldstream, Granville, Grand Slam, Bien Joli, Ned Reigh, The Fighter, Hollyrood and Gold Seeker, the only filly among the certain starters for a race which only one of her sex, Regret, has succeeded in winning in sixty-one runnings. Others from which the field, which if it includes more than twenty-two will establish a new Derby record for starters, will be drawn, include Banister, Indian Broom, He Did, Bold Venture, Teufel, Delphinium, Tintagel, Count Morse, Memory Book, Dnieper, Erin Torch, Bright Plumage, Holl Image, Sangreal, Brush Hook, Galmica, Seabiscuit and Ttennob. This galaxy of three-year-olds, including practically all the juvenile stars of last year and the outstanding horses of their age of winter and spring racing, provides, not only one of the largest ever prepared for the race, but one of the most closely matched in the record of the prize. Unless the fates should produce quality in one of the candidates not heretofore exhibited, none of the hopefuls will want for backers, though some of them, of course, are held in higher regard than others. The Derby last year was won by Omaha, with Roman Soldier second and Whiskolo third. Omaha raced under the colors of the Belair Stud, owned by William Woodward, owner of Granville. The first Derby, back in 1875, fell to H. P. McGraths Aristides, and since that inaugural it has been won by all but a very few of the great horses of the past three decades. Other stakes in addition to the Clark Handicap and Derby tofbe renewed during the spring meeting are the Bashford Manor Stakes, for two-year-olds, and the Kentucky Oaks, for three-year-old fillies, each endowed with ,000 in added money. The Bashford Manor Stakes will be run on May 9, while the Oaks will feature the closing days program on May 16. These fixtures also hold high promise of enjoying sparkling renewals. All programs during the season will consist of eight races, with the daily starting time of 2 oclock, except Derby Day, when an earlier post time for the first race usually prevails. Churchill Downs racing this spring will be offered in a setting more attractive than ever, for since the course last was in operation last fall improvements and changes costing approximately 50,000 have been made. These include an almost complete rebuilding of the clubhouse to include more accommodations, betting facilities of three floors, elaborate lounges and dining rooms and unrivaled decorations and landscaping. Prominent among other improvements are new entrances, increased parking facilities and a new traffic artery and reconstruction of many parts of the plant, not to overlook increased number of wickets for cashiers and sellers in all parts of the grandstand enclosure.
