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■ I mM JUDGES STANDI By Charles Harton Blue Grass Result Increases Derby Field Clever Fillies Prep for Kentucky, Pimlico Oaks Hooper Juveniles Show Ivan Parke Promise Wounded War Vets Enjoy Thoroughbred Sport LOUISVILLE, Ky., June 4. The hurly-burly Blue Grass renewal has transformed the Derby into what is technically known to the sports writing craft as a wide-open race" in which anything may happen, and the ■ I element element of of certainty certainty concerning concerning the the result result is is element element of of certainty certainty concerning concerning the the result result is is its very uncertainty. . . . Saturdays prelim" also will make for an unwieldy field. . . . Mrs. Willie G. Lewis, it now is perfectly clear, has acquired a bargain when paying Darby Dan Stable 4,000 for Darby Dieppe last season. She is enjoying a share of "beginners luck" and is the wife of an Evarts. Ky.. coal miner. Bred by John Galbreath. the tattle tale gray son of Foray II. — La Croma, by Solario, is distinctly of British pedigree. ... It wounds riders vanity to think their mounts were in trouble trouble in in rich rich stakes, stakes, but but several several of of those those mM trouble trouble in in rich rich stakes, stakes, but but several several of of those those involved in the Blue Grass scrimmage are reluctant to concede what everyone saw. . . . Fighting Step, who races for the firm of Mrs. R. J. Murphy and her daughter. Miss Susan Kellogg, of Evansville, Ind., is no "morning glory." His form is particularly gratifying to them, as they bred the son of Fighting Fox — Stepin-anna and reared him at their Indiana farm. "Muiiogg." Stepin-anna was herself a good winner for Mrs. Murphy. . . . Buddy Haas, who is reported hanging up his tack following the Derby, has a cafe at Covington, in Louisianas pine belt. . . . Ben Lind-heimer and his Washington-Arlington associates are once again pacing Midlands clubs in the matter of distribution. The increase in the Equipoise Miles value from 0,000 to 5,000 emphasizes the importance of one of Chicagoans" favorite turf events. Poetically enough, Ekkys son Equifox won the inaugural. ... If your correspondent had thought, previous to the Blue Grass, that Pot o Luck or Burning Dream had a date with destiny June 9, he still would think so. It was that kind of a race. The Kentucky Oaks, a sort of companion piece for fillies to the Derby, will have its seventieth renewal here on Friday. Unlike some of the Oaks races we saw in what Damon Runyan caUs "the Roaring: Twenties." there ere no Princess Doreens, Black Marias or Rose of Sharons among the probables, but after all, it is the Oaks, and the winner will accrue a degree of prestige when she is retired to the breeding farm. Tom Piatts Come and Go, winner of Keenelands Ashland. Indian Rocks Stables Cross Bayou and Warren Wrights tandem of On-Your-Toes and No Blues are the most formidable candidates, judging from their form here. Walmacs Wallflower is training well, presumably for this event. We have the thought that the Kentucky Oaks could possibly attract generally classier fields if its value, ,000 added, were more commensurate with its tradition, because its winners frequently are penalized five pounds in later richer three-year-old filly fixtures. Col. E. R. Bradleys Be Faithful is not, it develops, a Kentucky Oaks candidate. However, she is pointing for the 0,000 Pimlico Oaks, on the Maryland Jockey Clubs pretentious Preakness Day program. Ivan Parke, who brought Fred Hoopers clever Hoop Jr.. named for the Alabamans young son to the Downs for the Derby, tells us he has several fairish prospects among the two-year-olds. For instance, he is as enthusiastic as horsemen ever permit themselves to be concerning a filly by Bull Lea, who is a half-sister to Littletown. A great many of the two-year-olds and some of the older horses on Long Island are coughing, he observed. "They always seem to contract it about the time they are ready to run. It is a discouraging thing." I Post Graduate, Esteem and Ricks Raft are, or were, coughing, it is said. The former saddle satellite reports that Hoop Jr cuffed his left foreankle when he ducked away from the whip at about the sixteenth pole in the Wood but that the injury has taken no serious turn. The aristocratically bred son of Sir Gallahad III. — One Hour is to depart for Pimlico immediately following the Derby. Our recent blurb that returning war veterans who are fond of horses and the big outdoors might do worse than consider jobs at the racing stables, where there exists a labor shortage, seems to have attracted a good deal of interest. We have received some mail from aspiring grooms, and a canvass is being conducted along the shed rows at tracks Down East to determine the approximate number of men needed. There are similar vacancies at many breeding farms. Indeed it was this scarcity that made Paul McNutts estimate of the potential war manpower employed on thoroughbred farms so preposterous. A survey showed 17 eligible men in the Blue Grass area, as we recall. The paucity of grooms has, incidentally, given them an unaccustomed independence which adds to trainers headaches. Many actually draw larger salaries than their employers. Lucky indeed is the trainer with experienced men of the "old retainer" school. One of the nicest things about contemporary racing is the interest servicemen are taking in it. Jamaica, Churchill Downs and other tracks report guests from among those on furlough, or convalescing- in these localities. They seem to find it an enjoyable afternoons outing. Many will continue as racegoers when they return to civilian life. Col. Matt Winn is almost daily host to a number of war casualties from the Nichols Hospital here and has received inquiries concerning Derby Day from members of the Canadian and other allied nations who chance to be in the area. The colonel himself has two grandsons in the service and is endlessly pleased to receive mail from boys who manifest interest in the Derby.
