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■■— — — — — — — — - BETWEEN RACES * 0SCA« °™ CHURCHILL DOWNS, Lousville, Ky., May 9. — Calumet Farms Pon-ders rather sensational surprise in the Diamond Jubilee of the Kentucky Derby before more than 100,000 fans at Derby town, coupled with the failure of the heretofore feared Olympia, has thrown the three -year -old scene wide open. The upset in M-rDerby has turned Saturdays Preakness at Baltimore into a wide-open affair. We understand that horsemen both in New York and Maryland with Preakness eligibles were waiting to see how far "Olympia beat his field" in the Derby before making up their minds about a Preakness try. The effect of the Derby no doubt will extend on to the classic Belmont Stakes in New York. Bob Kelly, the goodwill man for the New York tracks, informs that officials there are rather hopeful that perhaps Blue Peter will be returned to competition in time to compete in the Belmont and lend additional prestige to the race. Trainer Ben Jones, who now has five Derby winners to his credit, had given no hint that he thought his horse had a chance. He expressed himself as being, like most everyone else, afraid of Olympia. Ponder, of course, closed rather boldly in the Derby Trial, at a mile, but most observers, who saw Olympia almost pull up at the end, discounted the effort of Ponder as being more to Olym-pias credit, if anything. We thought Steve Brooks rode Ponder Opens Future 3-Year-Old Classics Surprise Derby Win Was First Stakes Win Churchill Downs to Expand for 1950 Derby Tour Business Sets New Record for Race a rather heady race in the Derby, but he had a lot of horse under him. The Derby, of course, was Ponders first stakes win. In fact, it was only his second stakes start, the other being the Derby Trial. In any event, the Preakness, Belmont and other three-year-old stakes have taken an added interest. It is evident that neither one will result in the fields being lessened, and the minus pools, evident to annoy the managements, such as prevailed last year with Citation. AAA Derby Day Sidelights: That the iron hat, or Derby, is a thing of the past was amply demonstrated by the seventy-fifth Derby running. We didnt see everyone present, of course, but were able to spot only one derby in the entire crowd? . . . One fellow thought he had a short cut to Derby enjoyment figured out. ... He was hired by the Stevens Company to sell mint juleps. ... An hour after he left with his tray full of the delicious Kentucky beverage, the gendarmes picked him up just as he was consuming the last julep. . . . An official count will not be available for a couple of days, but Western Union officials estimate that more than 300,000 words were filed from the press box, surpassing last years all-time record of 286,000, the prior record file on any single sports event in America. . . . Chet Whittaker, a member of the board of directors at Golden Gate Fields, officially represented the Bay Area track at the Derby. He was a box guest of John D. Hertz ... A large number of step-ladders were in use in the infield. . . . Man o War souvenirs were offered for sale to the Derby crowd. Man o War, of course, did not race in the Derby. . . . Mrs. Helen Carruthers of Versailles entertained extensively during Derby week. Among her guests at the Downs was Mrs. Samuel H. Halliwell of Boston. Mrs. Halliwell is director of special events at the paddock club at Suffolk Downs. AAA Now that the seventy-fifth running of the Derby is safely written into charts and the American Racing Manual, as well as in the hearts and memories of the tens of thousands of people who witnessed the race, a glance at the future might be in order. "I dont suppose we will ever see the seating capacity at Churchill catch up with the demand," says Russell Sweeney, resident manager. "The trend of racing throughout the country seems to create more Derby fans every year. The more racing prospers in other areas, the more people want to come to Kentucky in the spring. During the 25 years I have been associated with Churchill Downs, not one sea-Con in wed on Page Thirty -Nine s h b n g I f p s | v a c p 1 f v g c t , j . l J : £ * * t t s a I i i 1 J j J j . , | ; , , , . BETWEEN RACES Eg By OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Forty-Four son has gone by but that a major expansion has not been made. But this season, as big as Churchill is, we had to turn down more than 20,000 letter applications and P goodness knows how many by telephone. That phone rang constantly for more than four months before the Derby running. W Perhaps the most notable improvement Z being made in the Churchill Downs expan- "* sion from last year, and which will be con- "" tinued in future years, is the switch from ~ wooden construction to concrete. All new accommodations will be accomplished with * concrete, an item which while more ex- H pensive to start with, costs far less in the Jgj long run in the way of upkeep. Judging i/» from the demand this season, I believe that P we eventually should have seats for about _ 150,000 people. When fans know they can * get a seat, they do not hesitate to come, 5 from no matter what distance. AAA - "I doubt," continued Sweeney, "if the original stand at Churchill will ever be * torn down. At least, not within our life- rj times. Churchill is too proud of its tra- k. ditions, and the steeples atop the stand y° have been associated through the years in the public mind with the Downs. They are really a part and parcel of the Derby itself. Derby fans believe that perhaps the race would lose much of its charm if it were offered ,in modernistic setting. To my mind, the most striking phase of this Derby has been the upsurge of the tour business. We have been besieged, as never before, by requests from tour agencies who wish - to escort parties ranging all the way from Pullman to special trains. These requests poured in from all parts of the country. One Derby precedent was set this year when a special train came from as far away as California." -- AAA Horses and People: It was unnoticed by many, but the Diamond Jubilee Derby Day heralded the end of an era in one respect. There were no street cars to take fans to and from the Downs. The ancient trolleys were replaced by fleets of motor buses and a few trackless trolleys. Louisvillians inform us that the street cars ceased operation the day after the Derby last year. They were kept in operation for the Citation race only because the bus fleet was then inadequate. It seems only yesterday, 1943, to be exact, when the year was known as the "Street Car Derby," and everyone went *" to the race in the creaking cars because of a gasoline shortage. We didnt bother to check the authenticity of this one, for obvious reasons, but our Louisville operative 92 insists that the car tracks on Fourth Street were not removed until just recently, or until after the international situation had eased! They take the Derby that seriously here. . . . The lightweight rider, Ike Bassett, is ready to swing into action again in the Middle West. He has completely recovered from a shoulder injury he sustained in Florida last January. The kid can horseback. . . . Trainer M. L. Fallon is a Louisville boy who had to follow Greeleys advice to go west to make good. He did, and rode with distinction in California for more than four years. Following his discharge from the Army, he took to training, and is doing somewhat more than good with liis four-horse string. He won five races and was second no less than four times at New Orleans in the winter. He will pitch for the purses in Chicago this summer.
