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Derby Brings On Boom in Business Apparent in Louisville and Environs Mostly, but Other Sectors Likewise Benefit CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — It long has been recognized by thinking people that racing, while primarily a sport, also is one of the keenest incentives to business in all the nation. The Kentucky Derby illustrates this point more dramatically than perhaps any other American turf classic. While its most apparent stimulant is in Louisville and environs, the business incentive in fact spreads throughout the nation, and has the subtle ramifications that make for a more sturdy and healthy American economy. In Louisville, the business boom is forcefully apparent. The hotels, of course, are crowded, with the overflow extending to Lexington, Cincinnati, and adjacent Indiana. In turn, the visitors spend a sizable sum in good, personal services, such as barber shops and beauty shops, shop in the department stores, give the taxi-cabs and street railway transportation systems a busy time, pack the downtown motion picture theaters and other places of amusement, and in general quicken the pulse of the lifeblood of America, trade and business. All of Country Benefits The rest of America benefits in turn. The railroads and air transport systems are taxed before and after the Derby to carry the myriad Derby fans to and from their homes, many from the extreme ends of the continent, to Louisville, and back again. A great many of these Derby visitors stop off in other sections of the land, and the process is repeated. In the final analysis, everyone in America benefits, a few directly, everyone indirectly, from the Derby and racing in general. As for Kentucky, the indirect results are enormous. The prestige of its thoroughbred breeding industry is carried to the far corners of the earth. Its blue grass sector is advertised as one of the pastoral show places. Its scenic beauty is made apparent to all Derby visitors, who carry the good tidings back home, and in turn stimulate interest for Kentucky tours and vacations to folks who know little or are not interested in racing. And what, may you ask, is the reward for the fan who makes this possible? The reward is in the race itself, plus a fine outing, perhaps a full scale vacation as well, plus the enjoyment of the finest day in the year of the finest of all red-blooded American sports, horse racing. The Derby is a contribution to gracious and happy living as well as being an economic boon to Louisville and Kentucky in particular and the nation in general.
