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PREDICTING RECORD MEETING . Churchill Downs Officials Confident of Greatest Spring Session. Reserved Seats and Boxes for Derby Day Exhausted Months Ago Clark Hand-leap Is Big Attraction. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24. Churchill Downs spring meetings seldom are anything but successes and this spring promises to bo no exception; in fact, itpromices to be the biggest success In many years. The season gets under way Saturday, May 1. Reservations for the Kentucky Derby, to be run on the second. Saturday of the nineteen-day meeting, far exceed those of any previous year, and indications are that a crowd much in excess of the 70,000 which was estimated to have seen last years running will be on the grounds this spring. Additional seating facilities have been provided for this year, but reservations for them have been gone long since. That the plant will be in complete readiness for the opening in spite of setbacks caused by the flood was assured as additional men were engaged to" put the finishing touches to the various improvements and additions to the grounds, stands and other i buildings. Additional betting pavillions have been constructed both in the grandstand and clubhouse, as have, numerous lounges and promenades, which are protected from the weather. HIGHLY ATTRACTIVE RACES. While the 0,000, Derby will attract the chief attention of the thoroughbred fan, all of the other stakes on the Churchill spring calendar also promise to be highly attractive affairs. The Clark Handicap, which this year will carry an added purse of 0,000, is attracting particular interest, for it stacks up as one of the most-promising features for three-year-olds and upward of the season. It is to bo decided over a mile and one-sixteenth and has attracted forty-six nominations, possibly as many as fifteen of which will see actual competition in it. The Clark, like the Derby, had its inception in 1875 and is one of the oldest fixtures on the American turf. The other two principal features to be renewed during the nineteen days are the Bashford Manor Stakes, a dash of five furlongs for two-year-olds for a ,000 added prize, and the Kentucky Oaks, ,000 added contest of a mile and a furlong for three-year-old fillies. The Bashford Manor is to be run on Wednesday of Derby week, and the Oaks on Saturday, May 15. ABOUT 00,000 IN TURSES. In keeping with the fine stakes offerings, many overnight races of promise arc assured, for already on the grounds, either at the Downs or at Douglas Park, are some of the outstanding stables of the country. Approximately 00,000 in purses will be distributed among the horsemen during the brief season, and this inducement has done much to attract many of the best horses in training. The general offices hung out the "standing room only" sign some time ago as far as Derby reservations are concerned, and a similar condition prevails in the stall department, for already more horsemen than can be accommodated are seeking quarters here for their charges. Col. M. J. Winn, head of Churchill Downs, is in Louisville, personally directing the completion of plans for the opening and the Derby, and he joins others in forecasting one of the best seasons in many years for the local course.
