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JUDGES STAND By Charles Hatton Lucks Roll in Ensuing Derby Triple Crown Events Aid Racing Chesapeake Big Event of Week-End Parking Lots and Post-War Tracks LOUISVILLE. Ky.. April 26. We believe it was Bill Corum who made the apt observation that The Derby is alwavs the same, always different.-" If ever a bewildered reader asks him what he meant, there is a handy definition in the aspects of the 1943 and 44 renewals. The added money remains the same, 5,000. But M the nine who recklessly exposed themselves to Count Fleet last spring had a runner of the sort that appears only j I I I I I j j 1 j ; j J I j j ! . j I j j • ; I ; I I • j at rare intervals to beat, which none did of course. This spring, there is no such spectacular performer in the Derby list. It appears that any three-year-old strong enough to lift 126 and fit enough to lug it a mile and a quarter holds some sort of chance. Whereas Count Fleets appearance h made "class" a prerequisite of the 43 I Derby candidates, just a smattering of that 1 commodity will suffice this May. Luck is ! more important. All of which is not to be construed as a sweeping indictment of the j entire division. It is altogether possible some colt will develop as the season progresses, finally emerging as a champion whose presence in the entries will give ] lesser stakes than the Derby a degree of "box office. Events such as those comprising Americas "Triple Crown" have , enough tradition and prestige that then allure is not contingent upon the presence of "name" horses. They make "name" horses, indeed. That is their service to the turf. Pimlicos Chesapeake assume* more import as its date nears. Pensive, Director J. E., Gay Bit. Broad Grin and Stymie promise to mole»t one another entertainingly in the week-ends 5,000 added mile and * sixteenth. Pensive and Director J. E. have successful forays at the Hilltop meet to commend them, and Gay Bit finished out a sprint there as if he were full of B-l, the Go-Vitamin. It might be unwise also to take an upstage attitude toward Stymie. That Texas-bred has exhibited a propensity for route racing. Many racing mens reaction to the brisk race track business this spring is quite strange. They incline to be apprehensive and discuss it as some unnerving, critical situation. "It is all to the good, as I see it," a turf promoter said reassuringly here to- day. "We are trying to develop racings popularity, and there is no reason to be fearful of great success, as if some Frank -enstein had been created." Clubs having inadequate facilities will simply have to increase them to meet the public demand, and in some instances construct larger plants on new sites, when that is possible after the war. There must be understand -I ing between tracks and commissions about franchises, dates and things before invest-! ments are made, of course. "Boomer" propositions are to be avoided. New York City interests plan two new courses and Belmont a more spacious stand after the war. It is important post-war tracks provide vast parking areas. When auto* which traverse 50 miles on a half gallon of gas are manufactured, every track will become accessible to thousands more motorists. Additionally, plane travel will increase attendances at all turf "classics." It is pertinent to say here, at the risk of fatiguing the readers through repetition that never was the sports super -i vision more important for never was the attention of so large a section of the American public focused upon it. There should be more reciprocity of rulings. Stewards who fail to obtain convincing evidence and merely warn off the undesirable, do racing an injustice. Those who are used bv their employers as "rubber stamps" command our utmost disrespect. A story out of California that contains a good deal of non-plussage is to the effect Bill Kyne intends protesting Hollywood Park dates. When the Bay Meadows dates were granted, it was with the stipulation that provision would be made for Hollywood dates were it possible to resume rac-» ing at that course in the autumn. Inci* dentally, the Los Angeles track contacted the connections of "name" horses way last j winter about a proposed gold cup of fab-j ulous value.
