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............................... ! Here and There on the Turf ■ Derby Field Abounds in Speed Expect Johnstown to Dominate Past Face Should Aid Flodders Small Field Also Favorable » - - - -« No sporting event has any more glamorous 5 appeal than the Kentucky Derby, hence the : tremendous amount of interest it commands 3 throughout the country, though it is just a . ! horse race in that the horses must compete •with each other over a given distance of ground. In this case it is a mile and one- : quarter, a route that is exacting, but, unlike most other races, the starters, unless fillies, of which none are in todays field, must each [ carry 126 pounds. That high impost will I make a great difference to a majority of the ten candidates remaining from the 115 original entries, and when the last horse reaches 3 the finish it will be clearly seen that the , Derby was a survival of the ablest, as well 1 as of the fittest. All the candidates, judging r by the opinions of their trainers, are in proper condition, so the Churchill Downs s classic once again will determine which of f its contestants arc good and which are not. How the Derby will run is the question some 70t000 persons will wish to see for 1 themselves. Millions of others all over the 5 country are just as interested and will have their ears tuned to the description of the 1 running. They will be anxious to know if Johnstown can dominate the opposition as s he has in his three previous starts this season, including the event in which he came ■within one-fifth of a second of the American 1 record for a mile and seventy yards in establishing a new Jamaica mark for that distance. !" The son of Jamestown — La France never has run any farther in competition, I and there is quite a difference between that route and the mile and one-quarter of the Derby. Included among his opponents are e colts with not near as much early speed but fc ■with an inclination to run steadily all the e way, and Johnstown cannot afford to falter, r or they will be found ready in the stretch to pick him up. Johnstown has done his running this season i- in front, not always right from the drop p of the flag, but always by the time the field d has settled into the back stretch. He may have sufficient speed to get to the front at ± any time today, but may be rated by Jimmy y Stout back of such other speedy colts as s Xalapa Clown, El Chico and T. M. Dorsett. t. ♦Again, he may not be able to outrun these e colts if they are permitted to step along at it a smart pace. William Woodwards colt may not care to have someone else show the e ■way or even to hear thundering hoofs close c at hand, something that has not troubled d him so far this season. Should neither of f these possible factors may any difference to o him, he will be able to run the way trainer ■v James Fitzsimmons most desires. He is the first high-speed candidate the veteran Aqueduct horseman so far has sent to the Derby. f. The Derby pace should be fast, considering r- the condition of the track. Churchill II Downs has a cuppy course, but it has been n improved steadily all week, principally due ie to the application of water every night for r the purpose of packing the soil. Even with h the track at its best, the Derby time is not t • expected to threaten the record of 2:01% 6 made by Twenty Grand in 1931, as the course ie has been re-soiled since. It should, however, r, be faster than the time of 2:044,and required d by Lawrin la"st year. Whether it be Johnstown, s- El Chico, Xalapa Clown, On Location n or T. M. Dorsett to set the early pace, the ie speed is expected to be fast enough to favor r the horses that must come from behind, unless one of the speedsters is able to carry on right down to the wire, as War Admiral, Clyde Van Dusen, Bubbling Over, Flying Ebony and Morvich have done. Technician and Viscounty are candidates which ordinarily may be expected to bc rated in between the front runners and the plodders and they may never be very far away from the pace, so that when ready to make their moves they will not have so much ground to make up. The plodders are Challedon and Heather Broom and as the field rushes down to the first turn they very likely will be trailing, but upon reaching the back stretch, when the early pace begins to tell on some of the front runners, they y should settle down for their closing bids. In that the field is a small one, they will not have so many horses to overtake, thereby y increasing their chances. We believe Challedon - will challenge in the stretch stoutly y enough to win, even if Johnstown has had d an easy time that far and that Heather r Broom will run down all the others, perhaps the favorite as well.
