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KENTUCKY OAKS PRIZED RACE Fifty-Eight Fillies Nominated for This Years Contest. Rose of Sharon, Princess Doreen, Startle, Black Maria and Untidy on Its Winning Roster. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 15. The Kentucky Oaks, which is as old as the Kentucky Derby and one of the most prized features J of its kind offered anywhere, promises to have another fine running at Churchill Downs this spring. Endowed with an added purse of ,000, the Oaks this year will be presented on Saturday, May 28, and will be contested by a field drawn from a list of fifty-eight three-year-old fillies which were nominated for the stake. The Oaks, like the Derby, was first run in 1875, and it has been presented annually ever since. In the beginning it was a test of a mile and a half, the same distance over which the Derby originally was contested, but in 1891 it was reduced to a mile and a quarter. The distance was further reduced in 1896 and until 1920 the Oaks was run over a mile and a sixteenth and then the following year the distance was made a mile and a furlong and has been decided over that route ever since. The Oaks grew into an important stake right along with the Derby and, although its monetary value never approximated that of Churchill Downs blue ribbon classic, it has become one of the most important filly stakes in the country and annually attracts a smart field. PAST WINNERS. Little is remembered of the first Kentucky Oaks winner, Vinaigrette, but many of its subsequent winners are well known to turf fans. Some of the outstanding victors in the modern history of the race were Alcibiades, Rose of Sharon, Easter Stockings, Princess Doreen, Untidy, Startle, Bronzewing, Viva America, Lillian Shaw, Black Maria, Barn Swallow, Paradisical, Suntica, Cousin Jo, Two Bob and Mars Shield. The Milky Way Farm colors were carried to victory in the race last spring by Mars Shield and that establishment has two elig-ibles for this years renewal. They are Harriet Ann and Manie OHara, both of which are on the scene. Alcibiades won under the silks of H. P. Headley. He has four nominees from which to select this years color-bearer. His three-year-old filly stars are Heritage, Flying Lee, Drift Along and Dear Me. Many other prominent stables have made nominations for the Oaks, among them Be-lair Stud, Brookmeade Stable, Calumet Farm, Dixiana, Marshall Field, Greentree Stable, King Ranch, J. O. Keene, W. E. Smith, Alvin Untermyer, Morris Vehon, David Knox, Shandon Farm and Mrs. Anthony Pelleteri.
