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MILKY WAY FARM ENTERS PAIR Name Mountain Ridge and John One for 2,000 Illinois Derby. Mrs. Ethel V. Mars Colors Were Victorious in Last Years Running, When Case Ace Was Returned Winner. AURORA, 111., May 23.— With the entry of the Milky Way Farms Mountain Ridge and John One received over the week end at the Fox Valley Jockey Club, the total number of candidates for the 2,000 added Illinois Derby was increased to twenty-seven, which is likely to be the full number of eligibles for the mile and a furlong test for three-year-olds scheduled for Saturday. However, racing secretary Richard A. Leigh, Sr., refrained from issuing the final list, due to the fact that he is allowing time for any nominations that might be in the mails postmarked prior to Saturday midnight. It was the Milky Way Farm of Mrs. Ethel V. Mars that furnished the 1937 winner of the Illinois Derby, which is the first of the major stakes events of the lengthy Illinois season, when Case Ace led a crack field down to the wire after having been on the front end for the entire trip. However, with Mountain Ridge and John One as the Milky Way reliances, the Chicago-owned outfit is not rated as having as strong a hold on this years renewal of the classic. TWO DISAPPOINTMENTS. Both Mountain Ridge and John One have been somewhat of a disappointment to trainer Robert McGarvey since embarking on their three-year-old careers, though they gave promise of developing into topnotchers as juveniles. Among the accomplishments of Mountain Ridge as a two-year-old, is a victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes. The addition of Mountain Ridge and John One to the forthcoming fixture, which will serve as the feature of the final days program, the number of Illinois horses eligible reached fifteen, or more than fifty percent of the candidates. These include the Milky Way Farms Mountain Ridge and John One, Calumet Farms Bull Lea, Taxes and Sickle T., Blue Ridge Farms Elooto, Wise Barrister and Unselfish, A. R. Borns Silver Sarah, James Emerys Dolly Val, J. S. Gosselins Bobbrax and Low Cuts, L. M. Seversons Spanit, Mrs. C. E. Dales Allan-wood, and the Wesley Sears Farms Xavier. Unless there is a sharp improvement in weather conditions, the sixth renewal of the Illinois Derby will be decided over an off track. It is possible that the racing strip that prevails for the decision of the contest will be heavy, since there appears to be no abatement in the siege of rainy weather which has plagued the Fox Valley Jockey Clubs meeting.
