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READY AT LOUISVILLE Preliminaries for Opening of Kentucky Derby Meeting Completed. Officials on Hand and Beady to Accept Entries for Saturdays Inaugural Program. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 28. With the spacious plant and grounds in order, practically all of the racing officials on hand and more than enough high grade horses to conduct the meeting, Churchill Downs stands ready to inaugurate its nineteen-day spring meeting here, on Saturday. All the preliminaries have been completed, with the exception of accepting and drawing entries for the first days program, and every indication points to one of the outstanding meetings of the year; certainly one of the best the local track has had in many seasons. Churchill Downs annually conducts one of the outstanding spring meetings on the racing calendar, and that this year will be no exception i- seen in the large number of horses of high quality which will be seen In action, and the large number of prominent stables whose colors will be displayed. Stalls have been at a premium, for many weeks, and those not already occupied will be filled by the end of the week, before which most of the stables which have been campaigning at Keeneland will be transferred either to Churchill Downs or Douglas Park. OUTSTANDING EVENT. The 0,000 Kentucky Derby, to be run May 8, of course, is the meetings principal offering and, though it stands out among the most important fixtures on the American turf, at least three other time-honored stakes will be staged during the three-week session. Besides the Derby, there will be the 0,000 added Clark Handicap, for three-year-olds and Upward, to be decided over a mile and a sixteenth on opening day, and then on the following Wednesday the Bashford Manor Stakes, a fixture at five furlongs, for two-year-olds, will be renewed. The Derby falls on the second Saturday, and on Saturday, May 15, three-year-old fillies will contest the Kentucky Oaks. The Bashford Hp nor and the Oaks were worth ,000 in added money each. The Clark Handicap and the Oaks are as old as the Derby, being renewed this year for the sixty-third time, while the Bashford Manor has thirty-five years of history behind it. All have been subscribed to liberally and each should bring together well matched fields. Col. M. J. Winn, head of the Downs, has been in Louisville for months supervising firid directing preparations for the coming meeting and he is exceedingly enthusiastic over the prospects. As for the Derby, he forecasts it will be one of the biggest, and from the amount of interest manifested several weeks before its running and the unprecedented demand for reservations and boxes his prediction seems destined to be borne out. -PREPARING FOR OPENING. Just now Colonel Winn, his assistants in the management of the track and racing officials are giving their attention to the opening on Saturday. The Clark Handicap this year promises to be one of its best runnings and it is to be surrounded by a highly attractive array of supporting events. While the Clark is expected to bring together some of the best horses of the handicap division, fans may be just as interested in the Indian Hills Purse, which may bring together a large field of Kentucky Derby eligibles over seven furlongs. The race carries a ,200 purse, and already a number of trainers of Derby horses have signified intentions of starting their charges in it. Local racing patrons also may get a preview of a number of Bashford Manor candidates in the Pewee Valley Purse, a dash of four and a half furlongs, for two-year-olds, while some of the top bracket platers are to see action in another race, the claiming price in which has been fixed at ,000. Eight races in all will be offered as they will be on each day of the meeting.
