Col. Winn In Chicago: Arranging Plans for the Coming Lincoln Fields Meeting.; Designs for 1940 Kentucky Derby to Surpass This Years Brilliant Renewal of Race., Daily Racing Form, 1939-05-16

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COLONEL WINN COL. WINN IN CHICAGO Arranging Plans for the Coming Lincoln Fields Meeting. Designs for 1940 Kentucky Derby to Surpass This Years Brilliant Renewal of Race. LOUISVILLE, Ky., May 15— Col. Matt J. Winn, president of the American Turf Association, which owns Churchill Downs, La-tonia and Lincoln Fields, takes his three race courses in stride. Having: broken all Kentucky Derby records and achieving an attendance of over 80,000, he left for Chicago yesterday to perfect all plans for the Lincoln Fields spring meeting, which begins May 25 and ends June 24. Already the progressive colonel intends that the 19-10 Derby will even surpass this years brilliant record, as witness the following statement given out today: - "During the past three months, although experiencing a complete*sell-out of boxes and seats, thousands of letters from all parts of the country were received requesting reservations. The demand was continuous up to and including Derby day and many thousands were disappointed. It is my intention Fo recommend to the Board of Directors that 500 more boxes be built for next years Derby and that additional reserved seats be erected wherever possible. "The bleachers, built on the Fourth Avenue side of the Churchill Downs track, with ontrance on Fourth Avenue, surpasses all expectations. Fully 15,000 people crowded into this enclosure. It is well to state that this was practically a local proposition and I took a deep personal interest in the experiment because it has never been done before on any other race track, and for the further and better reason that it gave many thousands of our citizens, who could not af- Continucd on thirty-ninth page. COL WINNJN CHICAGO Continued from first page. ford to pay the higher prices in the stands, an opportunity to see their first Derby. It is my purpose next year to double the space alloted to the bleachers and every effort will be made to take care of the multitude. "Speaking for myself, as president, and for the directors of Churchill Downs, I wish to express our thanks to the sports writers of America and to the papers they represented, for the publicity they gave the Derby before it was run, and for their generous comments on the way Derby day was handled by the Churchill Downs organization. Col. Matt J. Winn, executive director of Lincoln Fields, whose twenty-seven-day meeting begins a week from Thursday, arrived here Sunday from Louisville and immediately gave his attention to the more important details in connection with the opening of the Crete course. He announced that the "Daily Double," a popular betting combination at Lincoln Fields and also other of the Chicago tracks, will be operated again. He added that while the "Double" had been abandoned at Churchill Downs, its popularity here was so much greater that it will be retained. Colonel Winn will make several trips to Lincoln Fields during the week for the purpose of going over the various improvements being installed and work on which started some time ago. He was encouraged by the great amount of evidence of interest in the coming meeting and feels that with a favorable break in weather Lincoln Fields will be privileged to offer the finest racing in several years.


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1939051601/drf1939051601_1_3
Local Identifier: drf1939051601_1_3
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800