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r 1 Here and There on the Turf Churchill Downs Business Better Public Shows Better Spirit Havre De Grace Shows Appreciation Special Agent Training Again I . .- A Not only will this years Kentucky Derby, weather permitting, be one of the most financially successful of its long history, but the current meeting at Churchill Downs is " booming along at a more rapid pace than has been customary. The opening day crowd and wagering was up about 20 per cent over that of the 1935 spring inaugural and the patrons displayed much more interest in the proceedings than has been th-eir wont during the past few years. Clubhouse visitors were loud in their praise of the improvements made at great expense because of the greater comfort and facilities afforded them and these changes are sure to be appreciated by the many thousands of persons holding reservations for the Derby. In keeping with the changes, the Churchill Downs management is making a stronger effort than ever this year to protect those persons having boxes and no one will be permitted in the reserved area except those entitled to be there. Wagering facilities, in both the clubhouse and grandstand have been improved, but even so they will be thoroughly tested by the gigantic crowd expected Saturday. Other changes in the clubhouse include a new lounge and larger dining room, while a large, new parking area with separate entrance has been installed beyond the clubhouse turn. Another entrance and exit has been added to the grandstand side and with the Louisville police department co-operating in making several important streets leading to the track one-way arteries, the huge crowd will be able to reach and to leave Churchill Downs with much less delay. Improvements not so noticeable to the public, but noteworthy just the same, include the construction of another new stable, the second since last year, and a safer, slower but a faster drying track. That Matt Winn and his associates anticipate a good meeting at Latonia, opening May 23 for thirty -seven days, is indicated in the program of seven stakes, headed by the Latonia Derby, with 5,000 added. Each of the others will be endowed with ,000, having been jumped from last years figure of ,500. These increases include the Clip- iContlnued on twenty-second page.. HERE AND THERE ON THE TURF Continued from second page. setta Stakes and Cincinnati Trophy, events for two-year-olds, and in the interests of juvenile conservation it would have been better to have kept these races at their former values and to have added the difference to races like the Latonia Oaks, Independence Handicap and the Enquirer. However, the steps taken by the Latonia Jockey Club to attract better horses to the Milldale course are laudable and the richer stakes program may have the effect of holding in Kentucky some of the better horses that otherwise were headed for Hawthorne and Detroit. Edward G. Burke, general manager and one of the principal owners of Havre de Grace, deserves the thanks of the racing fraternity, for the voluntary and unexpected increase in the purses for the final three days of the meeting which closed yesterday. Patronage at the Susquehanna course was so much better this spring than it has been that the meeting was a good winner, and Burke did not hesitate to pass on some of the dividends to the horsemen. In turn this will mean appreciation of the publics support because more good horses will be attracted to Havre de Grace in the future and the sport will be of a higher standard as a result. As Bowie also enjoyed greater patronage, an increase in business at Pimlico seems only natural. The Maryland Jockey Club is another association that has never failed to offer good stakes and purses when it was possible to do so. Del Cannon, whose training must have had something to do with the improvement in the ability of Indian Broom and Special Agent, which Maj. Austin C. Taylor purchased from the Brookmeade Stable at Santa Anita, states that the latter colt is training well again and, with Top Rows status very much in doubt, he may be the one to beat in the 0,000 Bay Meadows Handicap. Dispatches from the West Coast state that the A. A. Baroni star needs to be fired and turned out for a couple of months, and if Top Row is unable to fulfill his engagement in this event the son of Sir Gallahad III. and Azucar appear the strongest candidates for the race. Special Agent had won two stakes at Tanforan before an injury compelled him to sidestep the Marchbank Handicap, which his stablemate, Indian Broom, stepped forward to win with a worlds record performance for the mile and a furlong. Trainer Cannon is very confident the Brooms colt will be hard to beat in the Derby and he fears only Brevity, believing that Indian Broom holds, the others safe.
