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SIXTYTHIRD KENTUCKY DERBY TODAY Large and Classy Field to Start in Americas Most Popular Race War Admiral Public Choice With ChicagoOwned ChicagoOwnedMilky Milky Way Stable Entry Next in Demand Open OpenRace Race Indicated by Large Number of Contestants LOUISVILLE Ky May 7 Twenty threeyearold colts and geldings regarded as almost certain starters and eight of these representing the East were entered today for the sixtythird annual Kentucky Derby which will thrill a record crowd for American racing at Churchill Downs here tomorrow Named for the race which will be decided over a mile and a quarter for a gross purse of 62575 are War Admiral Pornpoon Reaping Reward Military Melodist Sir Damion Dellor Sceneshifter Heelfly Fairy Hill Court Scandal Clodion Merry Maker Bernard F No Sir Fenc ¬ ing Billionaire Sunset Trail II Grey Gold and Burning Star The field the most representative in several years and with no standout Dromises to develop one of the most stirring con ¬ tests in all the histoiy of the classic event which has produced many bit ¬ terly fought breathtaking struggles strugglesand and long has been recognized as the premier fixture of American racing racingIncluding Including the winner of the more impor ¬ tant threeyearold stakes already decided the juvenile champion and others ranked high in the racing of 1936 and practically every other horse with a chance to go on to greatness the Derby brings together the cream of the division and the winner may be expected to account for championship honors The Derby universally is consid ¬ ered the most important leg on the three yearold title and not infrequently the win ¬ ner of the Churchill Downs special continues on to prove the champion championEXPECT EXPECT 70000 CROWD CROWDFor For the race the eastern colt War Ad ¬ miral a blocky son of Man o War which already has sired one winner of the coveted stake is almost sure to rule favorite The race will likely be staged under favorable conditions and before a crowd well in excess of the 70000 which were estimated to have witnessed runningThe last years running The fair weather that enveloped this area yesterday underwent a slight change early today when the skies became partly over ¬ cast but orecasts were that Derby fans probably wettingAs would escape a wetting As entries were received and closed this morning trainers of the candidates ex ¬ pressed satisfaction with the condition of their respective horses though some of course were not nearly as optimistic as others From their expressions it is safe to say that none barring ill luck will offer excuse after the race has been run Those whose horses appear to be the stronger con ¬ tenders were duly confident the others at least a good percentage of them looking to racing fortune to level the chances of all allMeanwhile Meanwhile preparation of the entire field reached an end as the speed of a number of the scheduled contestants was sharpened with short snappy workouts on a good track while others had final exercises in long muscleloosening gallops gallopsCASE CASE ACE ABSENTEE ABSENTEEA A lastminute decision by trainer Robert McGarvey of Mrs Ethel V Mars Milky Way Farm stable to withdraw Case Ace and start only Reaping Reward and Military marked the important change In the Derby lineup which has been more or less estab ¬ lished for several days While the with fContiiiued on tenth page SIXTYTHIRD RUNNING OF KENTUCKY DERBY TODAY Continued from first page drawal probably weakens the Milky Way hand generally regarded as the strongest western entry Reaping Reward and Military are expected to perform in a fashion com ¬ mensurate with the high esteem in which they are held by the public publicThe The favorite War Admiral not expected to monopolize speculation on the outcome experts in sounding public opinion esti ¬ mate that post time odds against the Sam ¬ uel D Riddle colt may be as much as 3 to 1 1As As the ace of the eastern contingent War Admiral has won five of his eight engage ¬ ments and in taking the recent Chesapeake Stakes for his second triumph in as many starts this year did the most to gain the honored position he now holds In the Chesapeake the Glen Riddle Farm horse de ¬ feated several of those he will oppose to morrow among them Townsend B Martins Court Scandal winner last winter of the Flamingo Stakes and Fairy Hill William DuPont Jrs successful entry in the Santa Anita Derby another winter prize Since the Chesapeake War Admiral has trained admir ¬ ably and this along with his full record and the presence in the saddle tomorrow of Charles Kurtsinger a Louisville boy also are factors contributing to his popularity popularityMILKY MILKY WAY ENTRY ENTRYHeading Heading the western forces the Mars combination of Reaping Reward and Mili ¬ tary also are supported by excellent records though that of Reaping Reward which went into winter quarters the runnerup to J H Louchheims Pompoon in last years juvenile standings is by far the more impressive Sent to the post fifteen times as a twoyear old Reaping Reward accounted for five of the engagements including the New Eng ¬ land Futurity the Grand Union Hotel Stakes and the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes In the New England Stakes he defeated Pom ¬ poon which had dropped only one of seven races prior to that time timeMilitarys Militarys most notable achievement was his second to Fairy Hill in the Santa Anita Derby in which he came from far back losing the race by a short length As a three yearold he won one of his five starts before the Santa Anita Derby Last year the son of St Germans whose son Bold Venture won the Kentucky Derby a year ago and an ¬ other of his get Twenty Grand took the 1931 renewal of the fixture was returned victorious in one of two starts the victory victorybeing being scored over the Churchill Downs track trackAlthough Although beaten by James W Parrishs Dellor in the Derby Trial Purse here last Tuesday the colts first public appearance since last fall Reaping Reward comes up to tomorrows engagement on top topSince Since his training began in midwinter at the Tennessee farm of his Chicago owner Reaping Reward has reeled off one good work after another but no less impressive has not been to the post since the Santa Anita Derby On the word of their trainer they are ready EASTERN CANDIDATES CANDIDATESLining Lining up with War Admiral for an east ¬ ern triumph the fourth in successive years are Pompoon Fairy Hill Court Scandal Marshall Fields Sir Damion Mrs H C Phipps Melodist Walter A Carters Clodion and Miss Mary Hirschs No Sir It has been years since the East mustered stronger rep ¬ resentation but it comes in a season which will find the rival West trying to break the string of eastern Derby conquests with the most formidable array of entries it has pro ¬ duced since 1933 when western horses led by Brokers Tip carried off all the prize j money I I IComing Coming back after a sensational juvenile i season in which he won six of eight starts I including the Belmont Futurity National j Stallion Stakes and the Junior Champion j Stakes Pompoon inaugurated his threeyear old campaign with a smashing and victo ¬ rious performance in the Paumonok Handicap which strengthened his position as favorite in antepost betting on the Derby In his next engagement and only other start as a threeyearold the Wood Memorial Stakes Pompoon went down to inglorious defeat to forfeit that distinction now held by War Admiral His Wood Memorial de ¬ feat was nothing more than the first dis ¬ appointing performance of his career as he came out of the engagement unhurt and i since has trained well Nevertheless it was enough to drop him in public admiration and tomorrow instead of being favorite he may be fourth or even fifth choice in the betting In spite of his Wood performance his trainer C F Clarke and others of the Louchheim connections regard him the best of his age and are sanguine that he will redeem himself tomorrow tomorrowWOOD WOOD MEMORIAL HEROES HEROESMelodist Melodist and Sir Damion heroes of the Wood Memorial in which they finished first and second turning back in addition to Pompoon two others Clodion and Merry Maker are here to compete in tomorrows race Though each had to be content with only one victory last year Melodist and Sir Damion are unquestionably improved this season At the finish of the Wood mile and seventy yards they were a length apart after both had exhibited the outstanding per ¬ formances of their careers Trained by James Fitzsimmons who has saddled two Derby winners Gallant Fox in 1930 and that horses splendid son Omaha in 1935 Melodist comes from a stable that has played a historyAs leading role in recent Derby history As above related Fairy Hills feat of j taking down the Santa Anita Derby Court j Scandal in the Hialeah threeyearold fix ¬ ture and Clodion winner of the Remsen Handicap last fall are the more lightly re ¬ garded of the invaders No Sirs victoiy over Pompoon in the Ladies Owners Handicap notwithstanding notwithstandingSANDES SANDES GOOD PAIR PAIRStanding Standing out strongest next to the Milky Way pair among the western horses are the Earl Sandetrained Sceneshifter and Fencing the entry of Col H Maxwell How ¬ ard E Paul and Guy L Waggoners Heelfly and J W Parrishs Dellor Of them it ap peared that the Howard duo probably would have the second largest following of the western hopefuls Sceneshifter raced in creditable fashion in Florida last winter while Fencing distinguished himself by win ¬ ning the Blue Grass Stakes defeating a band of Derby eligibles Their training here has compared with the best shown by any of the three y earolds and though their rec ¬ ords are uniformly good some of their pop ¬ ularity is due to Sandes connection with them for Sande one of the greatest jockeys of all time guided three Derby winners Zev Flying Ebony and Gallant Fox FoxHeelfly Heelfly though he raced well has attracted most of his admirers with sensational work ¬ outs since arriving here from Texas No candidate has exhibited more in private than the Three Ds homebred which must only race back to his final work of 206 over the long Derby route to cut a prominent if not leading figure in tomorrows battle That work is almost two full seconds faster than any by other of the candidates over the same distance distanceBUSY BUSY CAMPAIGNER DELLOR DELLORAs As for Dellor the most extensively cam ¬ paigned horse in the field having filled no less than thirty engagements since his career was inaugurated in January of last year he won for himself a place in the Derby lime ¬ light when he administered defeat to Reaping Reward and others of the Derby entries in the Trial here last Tuesday Prior to that performance the Parrish horse was a con ¬ sistent though not conspicuously bright performer performerFailure Failure of Brooklyn one of the winter book choices to measure up to Derby re ¬ quirements leaves the stable of E R Brad ¬ ley from whence has come no less than four winners of the timehonored Louisville blue ribbon event with only Billionaire a rank outsider to carry his white and green colors tomorrow Brooklyn had several private trials at Keeneland but falling far short of Derby standards was declared out a week ago agoThe The other western horses fall in the same category with Billionaire and they are Miss E G Rands Merry Maker though a muddy track would improve his chances Raoul Walshs Sunset Trail II the only imported horse in the field P A and R J Nashs Burning Star an unexpected entry Ike J Collins Bernard F and Edward W Duffys Grey Gold
