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Here and There on the Turf Keeneland Prospects Good Meeting May Be Best Yet Material of Higher Grade Minimum Purses Raised Keenelands third spring meeting begins tomorrow with prospects that it will be the best since the picturesque course, surrounded by blue grass farms, came into being in 1936. Local conditions may not point to an improvement in patronage at Keeneland, but other reasons are sufficient to suggest larger crowds, providing, of course, that the weather behaves itself during the period extending through April 27. The factor considered the most important for predicting the finest Keeneland meeting is the presence at the up-and-coming young track of more and better horses than ever have been quartered there. Keeneland hasnt as much competition for racing material from other tracks in the Middle West as formerly, and it has more barns to accommodate the increased demand for stabling space than before. They are filled with horses ready to run. The material on hand also represents higher quality and so the sport should be of better quality. This means something in a community like central Kentucky, where the people know their horses and show appreciation of finer racing. Keenelands racing also may be expected to attract more out-of-town visitors than ever before. The main highway from Louisville now is open and the delegations from that city will be larger but racing enthusiasts from points farther away will be at the Lexington course in greater numbers because the efforts to make Keeneland a national track are bearing fruit It has been the constant aim of Hal Price Headley and his associates to give Keeneland that sort of a reputation, doing so by concentrating on providing good sport and letting the making of profits, if any, be incidental. That Keeneland is on the way upward is shown by the numerous improvements in the plant and in an increase in purses for this meeting. At first the track had minimum purses of 00, which are elevated to 00 this spring. Only twenty-five of the eighty-two regular programmed events are at the low figure, the others ranging in value up to ,200. One ,000 added feature, the Blue Grass Stakes, and three at ,500 each, the Phoenix and Ben Ali Handicaps and Lafayette Stakes, are the top attractions. The Blue Grass, of course, is the most important and it once again promises to draw some of the more dangerous Kentucky Derby candidates, the best at this time appearing to be Third Degree. Benefactor was counted upon as a starter until his recently suffered injury. Considered most likely to oppose Third Degree are his stablemates, Hash, Easy Mon, Calexico, Detector and Viscounty. Good races are likely in both features for older horses, the Phoenix at six furlongs and Such fast horses as The Fighter, Tiger, Miss Eull Dog, Preeminent, Armor Bearer, Torchy, Bernard F. and Count Morse are in the Phoenix, while the outstanding Ben Ali prospects are Bull Lea, Bernard F., Birthday, Flying Lee, Arabs Arrow, Burning Star, Sir Marlboro and Sabariel. In the Lafayette are most of the two-year-olds whose fast trials have kept the dockers on their toes at Keeneland, Churchill Downs and other tracks in recent weeks. The Lafayette so far hasnt been won by a youngster destined to gain high ranking at the end of the season, but that may be changed this spring. Sixty-one juveniles, most of them smartly bred, have been made eligible to this dash over the short half-mile course at Keeneland. Keeneland is unique among American race courses. It is not operated primarily for profit, but some others in the United States arent either. However, the association has no paid executives, unless superintendent W. T. Bishop and Miss Martha Lawson Brown, the assistant secretary, can be termed that. They do most of the work, much of which is at the suggestion of the numerous practical horsemen and racing! men interested in the course. Keeneland has one of the most competent official staffs in the country, although only about half of the men are paid, the services of the others being donated. By curtailing expenses in this and other ways, except in purses, while educating patrons to a willingness to pay a moderate admission fee, Keeneland has been able to operate successfully from its inception, reducing its debt while improving its racing.
