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CONSIDERED DERBY STARTERS Technician, Xalapa Clown, American Byrd and Steel Heels Listed. Blue Grass Stakes Probable Field Disappointing to Officials of Keeneland Organization. LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24. Regardless of recent events in the East that may have changed the status of some of the eligibles racing in New York and Maryland, all of the principal candidates training or racing in Kentucky continue to come up to the Kentucky Derby in good fashion. Except for a few three-year-olds that were named for the .0,000 fixture but never rated as probable starters in the race, the lineup of western hopefuls has not changed since E. R. Bradleys Benefactor was declared out of the classic as a result of a puffed tendon two weeks ago. On Thursday at Keeneland the Blue Grass Stakes will be renewed as the feature race of the closing program. It is for three-year-olds exclusively and staged as an opportunity for the best western and a few eastern horses of that age to get together for a Derby preview over a distance of a mile and one furlong. Unfortunately, the Blue Grass Stakes has not come up to the expectations of the Keeneland Association and next Thursdays running for a purse of ,000 added can hardly be expected to have much bearing on the complexion of the Derby field. HASH AND THIRD DEGREE. Besides Mrs. Payne Whitneys Hash and Third Degree and Emerson F. Woodwards Viscounty, neither of which has displayed championship caliber, the Blue Grass Stakes will engage only two or three others of much less prominence, unless John Hay Whitneys Heather Broom or Counterpoise, both likely colts, are sent out from New York to start in the Derby test. Conclusive evidence that Herbert M. Woolfs Technician and Mrs. Bessie Franz-heims Xalapa Clown, two powerful western threats which have been training at Churchill Downs for some weeks, are meeting the rigors of the Derby preparation grind in a manner gratifying to their connections and . supporters, was offered here yesterday when they accomplished splendid long trials over ! the Derby track. Xalapa Clown worked the Pi route of a mile and one-quarter in . on a fast track, handily, while Technician reeled off nine furlongs in 1:54 with similar zest. The distances were the longest the Woolf and Franzheim colts have been asked to traverse in their training at the scene of their important objective. Although the track generally was considered fast by horsemen and dockers, it was deep and cuppy, with several rough spots, the last evidence of recent hard rains, along the inner rail. Because of these places horses worked well out into the race course, thus covering more ground than otherwise would have been the case. STEEL HEELS IN LONG WORK. U In addition to Technician and Xalapa Clown, two other colts likely to be in the Derby field on May 6 were seen in good trials by the large crowd of visitors who thronged the Downs during the Sunday morning training period. They were Junius W. Bells Steel Heels, which traveled a mile and one-eighth in 1:57, and William H. Whitehouses American Byrd, which negotiated the same distance in 1:57. The Bell and Whitehouse candidates were never fully extended and, like Xalapa Clown and Technician, were in fine fettle after they had "cooled out." Ben A. Jones, trainer of Technician, worked him from the starting gate in the mile chute, and the son of Insco, equipped with blinkers and four bandages, was paced by Robert L. and Joe Schenck for the first half mile, with Beau Insco cutting in after the first quarter to go six furlongs with the Derby horse. Technician was timed for the quarter in :24 an " "i.er going the next two Im; . in :SU,-:, ded ou- three-quarters in 1:12. The w - .ios caught him at the mile in 1:40. Accompanied by Gay Troubadour during the first half mile and Top Man for the last three-quarters, Xalapa Clown went the Derby distance on the main track, thus negotiating two turns to Technicians one, in :24 for the quarter, :49 for the half mile, 1:15 for three-quarters, 1:42 for the mile, 1:56 for the mile and one-eighth, and the full distance in 2:10 4i. American Byrd went the quarter in :24, half mile in :49, three-quarters in 1:17 and the mile in 1:44, while Steel Heels was timed in :24, :50, 1:15, 1:42.
