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KENTUCKY DERBY FIELD TAKING DEFINITE SHAPE a SEE SIXTEEN STARTERS Current Season Unusual for Training of Candidates. Wood Memorial, Chesapeake and Blue Grass Stakes May Uncover Likely Prospects for Race. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 16. While it still is too early to determine the actual field for the race, this season is one in which an excellent line can be drawn on the probable starters in the sixty-fourth annual Kentucky Derby, to be run at Churchill Downs here on May 7. Seldom before has the Derby field taken what may be considered definite shape so far in advance of the contest, but this is an unusual year in the training of the better three-year-olds, and it appears that about sixteen will face the stiff mile and a quarter Derby route. Those which at this time must be considered positive starters are Stagehand, Fighting Fox, Mountain Ridge, Tiger, Menow, Sun Egret, Bull Lea, Redbreast, Lawrin, Nedayr, Cant Wait, Dah He, The Chief, Co-Sport, Dickerville and Gov. Chandler. To these may be added several whose status is not so firmly established, but it is hardly likely that as many as twenty-two, a record number of starters set for the race in 1928, will parade postward. To name a few still found in the Derby picture but whose chances of starting are not as bright, there are Dauber, Kings Heir, Benjam, Chaps, Knee Deep and Stands Alone. All of these, like a majority of the more or less qualified starters, will have racing opportunities before the big 0,000 added Louisville fixture, and these chances may reveal one or more of them entitled to a place in the Derby field. DOTTBTFUL STARTERS. On the other hand, with the race still three weeks away, one or two of those in the present lineup of starters may be forced to the sidelines, as there still is chance for injury and sickness to take its toll. Considering that all except five of the horses generally regarded as starters already are in Kentucky, the chances of injury or sickness are considerably less than in former years, when a greater number had to travel long distances to Kentucky within a few days of the race. A field of from sixteen or seventeen down to as few as ten would make for a more truly-run and probably more sharply-contested race than might result if an unwieldy array went to the post, is the opinion of horsemen and more-critical fans. Right now many horsemen qualified to judge are positive that it has been many years since prospects for a hard race the kind that thriils from start to finish were nearly as good as this season. There are too many good colts in the field, they claim, for contention to be lacking at any stage of the race. Not infrequently the Derby is won in decisive fashion, but these horsemen who are well-informed cannot see this years victor capturing the prize without a stern battle. Should a decisive winner develop, they are satisfied that in view of the horses he will meet here, there will be no stopping him for the remainder of the year. STAGEHANDS PRESENCE. The presence of the favorite, Stagehand, at the Derby scene, enlivened interest during the past week and, with other candidates here doing splendidly and still more reported to have made much headway at Keeneland and eastern racing points, the Derby outlook holds a rosy hue for turf fans. While it is very unlikely that renewals of the Wood Memorial at Jamaica, the Chesapeake at Havre de Grace and the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland will eliminate any of those already considered starters in the Derby, they might uncover several contestants which thus far have not come to light as horses with sufficient quality to have a chance in the local stake. At the most, only a few leading Derby threats will compete in any of the three pre-Derby stakes, and a majority of them, probably in need of racing, could be expected to improve on Wood, Chesapeake or Blue Grass Stakes performances.
