view raw text
Here and There on the Turf Derby Still Most Popular Race Good Filly Would Rate Highly HighlyWoman Woman Trainer Increases In ¬ terest terestKentuckys Kentuckys Bid Smaller Than Ever This years Kentucky Derby is so much like past Derbys yet so different but what ¬ ever the aspects it continues as Americas most popular race the Blue Ribbon of the i American turf More money may be given away in the Santa Anita Handicap and the Belmont Stakes may be the most important insofar as classic traditions are concerned but the Kentucky Derby more so now than j ever is the one race that quickens the heart beat and raises the blood pressure Land water or sky all roads lead to Louis ville and they are being patronized in a j manner suggesting that the extensive fences of Churchill Downs will be subjected to greater pressure tomorrow than ever before in the sixtythree years of the tracks ex ¬ istence With this promise of a record crowd is a fever of excitement no thermom ¬ eter can record recordGenerally Generally considered as a wideopen race the Derby strange to relate does not have a filly among its score of overnight entries A filly of the caliber of Nellie Flag Prudery and Viva America which made good and j game efforts to duplicate Regrets victory would have commanded unusual respect in this Derby tomorrow but long ago the trainers of the six lassies nominated for the event gave up whatever hope they may I have had of sending them to the post either I because they were to be reserved for racing j i in their own division as was the case with i Dawn Play or they were considered not good i enough Nevertheless it is a fillyless Derby in a year when observers are agreed that a good filly would have had a fine chance for victory i iAdditional Additional romance has been injected into the 1937 edition through the presence of Miss Mary Hirsch as the trainer of a Derby candidate The daughter of Max Hirsch who saddled Bold Venture last years winner was an early arrival from Florida with her No Sir and she has been a center of In ¬ terest daily She and her horse have been photographed innumerable times Unfortu ¬ nately the son of Sortie has not come up to the race just as sprightly as Miss Hirsch would prefer and she is entertaining more hope than confidence in No Sirs chances on the morrow Earl Sande has been a bidder with Miss Hirsch for preDerby attention due to his vast popularity and the fact that he is one of two jockeys to have ridden three Derby winners In his new role as a trainer with Sceneshifter considered among the more prominent candidates and Fenc ¬ ing in a lesser light Sande because of his experience as a public figure took the atten ¬ tion paid him here in his stride strideAs As has long been the case the Derby once k again is an East versus West affair with this section of the country possessing the greater numerical strength However the East is accorded the bouquet for having the quality representation but whether that will mean anything late tomorrow after ¬ noon is a matter that no one knows now War Admiral is expected to be the favor ite and he is the Easts principal hope having come here fresh from a galloping victory in the Chesapeake Stakes He is the first Derby candidate from the Glen Rid ¬ dle Farm stable of Samuel D Riddle who hitherto always has refrained from patron ¬ izing the local classic In the year that Man o1 War ruled the threeyearold division with his mighty strength he was not nom ¬ inated for the Derby while pointing for the Preakness Stakes Clyde Van Duscn a son of the super horse won the 1929 Derby but in anothers silks and now that Riddle is making his first Derby bid with another son of Man o War he is the favorite favoriteThe The Derby is much more than an East versus West affair however the intersec tional rivalry extending to all parts of the country New Yorkowned candidates are Melodist Sir Damion Court Scandal Clo dion and No Sir Representing Chicago are Reaping Reward Military and Burning Star Hoping to take the victory to Phila ¬ delphia are Pompoon and War Admiral as the Delawareowned Fairy Hill completes the Eastern contingent Ohio increases the chances of the MidWest with Bernard F Sceneshifter and Fencing while the South is pinning its hopes on Heelfly from the Texas ranch of the Waggoner Brothers Out in California a victory by either Sunset Trail H or Merry Maker would be highly pleasing as both colts will bear the silks of persons high in the motion picture indus ¬ try For once in the long long history of the Derby Kentucky is outnumbered and if another triumph is added to the many scored by Blue Grass horses it must be scored by Dellor or Billionaire As Colonel Bradley already has won four Derbies Ken tuckians will be gleeful if the honor goes I goesI to James W Parrish venerable banker weI and sportsman of Midway Strangely we I have not heard the expression When in doubt play Bradley
