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RECORD JERBY FIELD Indications Point to Largest Field Ever to Contest Famous Race. Prospects Are for Over 22 Starting in 0,000 Event at Churchill Downs Saturday, May 8. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 5. Twenty-two, the record field for the race, started in the Kentucky Derby in 1928 and it i3 entirely possible that as many will strive for honors in this years running of the 0,000 classic at Churchill Downs on May 8. The strong probability of a large field, along with an above average number of candidates of higher quality, brings such a foremost Derby authority as Earl Sande to the conclusion, that racing luck may prove the deciding factor in the impending sixty-third running of that famous fixture. The noted former jockey, who piloted no less than three winners of the coveted race, while keeping an eye on the candidates he is training for the Derby at the Downs this morning, with so many fine colts, a number of them, the equal, or better, perhaps than some Derby winners of the past, this years race is likely to prove one of the hottest. "From all accounts practically all of these outstanding candidates are so advanced in their training that all may be counted as certain starters, barring accidents. There are so many things that can happen to a horse that nothing is definite, but it appears at this time that the Derby is assured a big field. OPEN WINTER HELPFUL. "Benefits of the open winter are evident on all sides. Look at Reaping Reward and the other candidates Robert McGarvey is training for Mrs. Mars. Saw where Reaping Reward worked a mile and a sixteenth in 1:50 on an off-track. That would indicate he is ready to race and the same is true of Derby horses at Columbia and other places. While training is not as hard as racing, the wintered Derbyhorses have come a long way and already are past many possible pit-falls. This causes me to feel that if all the best candidates measure up to expectations in their early races they will be here for the Derby." Sande also believes that with a large number of contestants of more or less equal merit, owners of several eligibles held in lighter regard probably will take a chance with their horses, hoping that enough good luck may fall their way to give them more than an outside chance of victory. Instances Continued on eleventh page. RECORD DERBY FIELD f Continued from first page. of this in the past were pointed out by the jone time ace of American riders, who himself rode an outsider, the late Gifford A. Cochrans Flying Ebony, to victory in the Derby of 1925. Flying Ebony was a field horse and as such was given only light consideration. SANDE AS TRAINER. This year Sande is tackling the Derby from a new angle that as trainer. He is conditioning three eligibles for Col. Maxwell Hoard and two of them, Sceneshifter and Fencing, loom as potential starters. The other one is Gloom Buster. Since arriving at the Downs from Florida, where Sande, acting for Howard, purchased them from the Joseph E. Widener stable, Sceneshifter and Fencing have been training in a fashion highly satisfactorily. Right now they are among the outstanding prospects at the scene of the race. Supporting Sandes belief that the Derby field will be a large one, the scheduled arrival tomorrow of Miss Mary Hirschs No Sir and I. J. Collins Bernard F. will bring to an even score the number of nominees at the two local courses. At present the only real Derby possibility at Douglas Park is H. C. Applegates Chigre, while Mrs. W. H. Fursts Gerald and H. H. Cross trio of Teddy Green, Knights Plume and The Runner are other better known ones at the Downs. KNIGHTS FLUME BREEZES. Ed Snyder, the Cross trainer, breezed Knights Plume three-quarters this morning in 1:21 on a slow track, the result of much needed rain late yesterday and during" the night It was the first precipitation of any consequence in many weeks and it helped both tracks materially. Before the rain Sunday Phil Reillys Come to Taw went a handy three-quarters in 1:16 Mrs. Frank J. Navins Kermay three furlongs ? 1- a.nd,Ike Weils My Grandson seven-eighths m 1:31, driving. Two horses took turns pacing the Weil horse. After his short trial Kermay was loaded in a van and transferred to Keeneland. Arrivals today include M. Jolley with the horses of A. P. Canale, F. Podesto and G. A. Burke and the small stables of J. Allgeyer and Lou Unger from Hot Springs. Several more cars are expected from that point tomorrow, while stables of Miss Hirsch, Collins and Kirby Ramsey are due at the same time from Miami. This morning track superintendent Tom Young was advised that the Kentucky Derby candidate, Grey Gold, and seven others owned by Edward W. Duffy, of Detroit, would leave Columbia, S. C for the Downs ; in a few days.
