view raw text
EXPECT RECORD FIELD Twenty-Five Still Possibilities to Face Derby Barrier. Many Observers Look Upon Race as Most Open in Years Despite Short Price on Pompoon. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24. At this comparatively late stage of spring training horsemen and other observers usually have j the list of Kentucky Derby nominations pared down to somewhere near the actual size of the starting field and if the same is true this year it appears that a near-record filed will parade to the post in the 0,000 added race at Churchill Downs here on Saturday, May 8. Twenty-two faced the barrier in 1928, the year Mrs. J. D. Hertz j Reigh Count won, and it is quite possible that as many will try for the pot of gold . which awaits this years victor. The Derby nominations closed on February I 15 with a list of 103 names and of this number twenty-five or more still are in the , hunt, an indication that a record field may go postward a week from next Saturday, I and that this years Derby stands out as one of the most open affairs in the long history of the stake. NOT "SOAKED" OUT. This condition prevails in spite of the apparent favor in which J. H. Louchheims . Pompoon, the Milky Way Farms Reaping Reward and E. R. Bradleys Brooklyn are held. Owners and trainers of other eligibles have a healthy respect for these more fan- j cied three-year-olds, but they are not to be "scared" out of the contest by them. Although these were stars in their own right as two-year-olds, none of them has shown . enough this year to be conceded victory in ! the Derby, an honor many frequently be-1 stow on some outstanding candidates about this stage of the spring. Pompoon, generally regarded the champion juvenile last year, won the Paumonok ; Handicap at Jamaica several weeks ago, but j the distance of the Paumonok at six fur-1 longs is a far cry from the Derby route of i a mile and a quarter. Reaping Reward, I second to Pompoon in 1936 in point of money ; won, has not faced the barrier since his j victory at Churchill Downs here last fall, while Brooklyn hardly covered himself with glory in an overnight race at Keeneland last Wednesday when he finished second to E.I W. Duffys Derby eligible. Grey Gold, and his own stablemate. Billionaire, also named for the Derby, over a mile and a sixteenth. LARGE FIELD PROBABLE. No attempt is made by horsemen to belittle these three-year-olds, but they still have not shown they will be invincible on May 8, and it seems strongly likely that a large . band will be out to "try" them when the flag drops somewhere around 5 oclock that . afternoon. I Reaping Reward, which received his 1 earlier 1937 training at the farm of his i owner at Pulaski, Tenn., and later at Ar-i lington Downs, Texas, is continuing with his training here at the Downs, but besides him are at teast seven others whose con-1 nections have indicated they would be defi-1 nite starters in the Derby. Among them is ! Reaping Rewards stable companion. Mill-! tary, while the others are Mrs. W. H. Fursts Gerald, Col. H. Maxwell Howards Scene-shifter and Fencing, Miss Mary Hirschs No Sir, Ike J. Collins Bernard F., and Raoul Walshs Sunset Trail II. Some of these lesser lights may not have strong followings generally, but that their owners and trainers think well of them is enough to assure that they have more than remote chances. CONSIDERED CERTAIN STARTERS. Among other hopefuls which have shown enough either in actual competition or in their training to warrant their being shipped here for the most coveted prize on the American turf calendar are the Glen Riddle Farms War Admiral, the Manhasset Stables White Tie, the Greentree Stables Chicolorado, Townsend B. Martins Court i Scandal, C. V. Whitneys Black Look, Walter A. Carters Clodion, the Calumet Farms Gal-sun and Gosum, and, of course. Grey Gold and Billionaire. Most of these are considered certain to be among the Derby starters. Another group which is almost certain to provide several contestants includes J. W. Parrishs Dellor, Mrs. Myrtle Sheas Merry Maker, the Three Ds Stock Farms Heelfly, Alfred G. Vanderbilfs Tedius, J. W. Y. Mar-Jins Triple Action, Mrs. G. W. Lofts Mo- sawtre, Ike Weils My Grandson, and Fox-! catcher Farms Fairy Hill. j The Chesapeake Stakes at Havre do Grace j Saturday scaled the fate of several Kentucky Derby nominees and the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Thursday, and the Wood Memorial at Jamaica next Saturday will determine the status of several more, but the 0,000 race here two weeks hence, still promises to see one of the largest fields In. action in several years.
