view raw text
JUDGES STAND *y CHARLES HATT0N CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, [Ky., May 6. — Tomorrow at approximately 4:45 p. m. CST, you will find the stoutest of the three-year-olds in the winners ring here at the Downs, dripping sweat and roses gloriously. The mile and a quarter of the Derby is the supreme test, and it may develop another champion whose name will be remembered along with those of Exterminator, Reigh Count, Cavalcade and Assault. Certainly the field has all the more exciting elements of a really memorable horse race from start to finish. Olympia won the Wood by a neck, Capot the Chesapeake by a nose, and there was a four-horse blanket finish in the Blue Grass Stakes. They are a well-matched field of very game colts, precisely the sort Col. Matt J. Winn might have wished for the races anniversary. If anybody cares to know, this observer fancies Olympia. You may remember that we reported from Arlington Park last summer that he struck us as the sort who might develop into a Derby horse. He still does, though it must remain for the race to prove he will stay a mile and a quarter, and there are vague doubts in some quarters. "All he knows is eating, sleeping and running," trainer Parke orserves. That has enabled him to remain at the top of his form all winter and spring. A colt having any weak points in his armor would have come apart with such a campaign. AAA This Derby is in a sense a special sort of tribute to Colonel Winn, who developed it from a ,000 spring stake of negligible appeal into a 00,000 classic, and has watched the crowds grow from 15,000 to some 100,000. It is one of the worlds great sporting events and is broadcast, televised and filmed for millions of sports lovers here and abroad. Its difficult to know how many persons the Derby has interested in horse racing, with any degree of accuracy, but we shouldnt care to have to count them. Olympia One to Beat in Run for Roses Derby Anniversary Tribute to Colonel Winn Secret of Noted Promoters Success He Gives the Public What They Want There is ample evidence that it helps racing elsewhere. For example, Hialeahs Flamingo, Santa Anitas Derby, Jamaicas Wood, Havres Chesapeake and Keenelands Blue Grass Stakes asume a great deal more significance as preliminary tests of Derby quality. This is all quite apart from its importance to the stud, of course. Colonel Winn was quoted last winter to be considering retirement as the impresario of the Derby, but the betting is that he will set the stage for the next one. AAA "The public comes first" is Colonel Winns credo. Theres no doubt this view accounts for his success in attracting the crowds to Louisville each May to see his Derby. "We must accommodate these people," he will say, and each spring there are more boxes, and more requests for them. Winn tells us that he thinks "The Derby first attracted national attention in 1915. That was the year in which Harry Whitney brought his unbeaten filly Regret from the East for the race. A large party of sportsmen and women came down to see that one. They have been coming in larger numbers ever since, and from all over the country." This Derby will be witnessed by scores of turf followers who are coming from New York, California, Florida and Texas, as well as the usual crowd from Chicago. As long ago as last November, when some other track operators feared it might be necessary to reduce purses and stakes, Colonel Winn sounded a note of optimism when he announced that this Derby would have 00,000 in added monies. Further he said that it was planned to add the same value to the Derby next season. AAA The Derby this spring differs little from the others, happily, we think. From time to time one hears it said that the whole thing is a sort of exhibitionism. But the Derby annually attracts the largest racing crowd of the year on this side of the Atlantic. Call it what one will, its clear that the Downs club is giving the racegoing public of this country the sort of show it wants. Top hats, tails and a stuffy silence may be the correct thing during the running of an Ascot Gold Cup, but Yankees find that kind of racing pretty dull. The Kentucky Derby affords them a maximum of fun, which is, after all, the important thing. Down through the years the Downs classic has its own conditions, like the hundreds of kids perching on the stable roofs lining the back-stretch, the surge of the crowd onto the track to greet the Derby winner, the sentimental strains of My Old Kentucky Home as the field parades to the post and the clatter of the frosted mint julep glasses. Colonel Winn was shrewd enough to perceive 30 years ago that was what his customers wanted. He has made of the Derby the most famous American horse race simply by giving it to them. AAA Turf ana: It is a commentary on something or other that the Derby Day overnighters met with lackadaisical response from horsemen. . . . Ponders race in the Derby Trial confirmed what many suspected at Keeneland, that he stays better than does De Luxe. . . . "Bricks purse will get us back to New York, no matter how Capot and Wine List run;" John Gaver philosophizes. . . . Illinois state reports a large surplus in its vets bonus fund, for which the "tote" take was increased. . . . First several days at the Downs were "off" about 20 per cent, but business on The Big Day is expected to compensate for much of the decline. . . . Hirsch Jacobs reports Stymie is training in Virginia.
