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u i . !■!:;,;.; JUDGES STAND *y CHARLES HATT0N CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville. Ky., May 4. — Derby Day is here again, with a prospect the largest crowd that ever saw a horse race on this continent will witness one of the most interesting renewals of the famous old classic. Certainly the form students were never more uncertain about the the probable probable result. result. This This Derby Derby is is for for the the probable probable result. result. This This Derby Derby is is for for mystics with crystals, and people who are good at bingo. Columnists unfortunately have no occult power of perception, but there is a tradition which obliges them to attempt to pick the Derby winner. This tourist prefers the Whitney entry, Fanfare and Repetoire in that order. And we arent discounting any of the others, including Bill Bailey, who has been dead several weeks. It would be a good story were Counterpoint to winw A number of the field sold cheaply as yearlings, but this one broke a bone, was confined to his stall four months, and could not be sold at all. Fanfare impressed us as a stout colt in the Derby Trial, when he overcame repeated interference and won off. A horse must have class to run like that. Repetoire we know only by reputation, and these is certainly nothing disreputable about winning four stakes in four starts, though he is supposed to be a sprinter. The rather sketchy form of the Derby horses has completely confounded the handicappers, but there is insufficient evidence they are "a bad lot." Sir Barton was a maiden when he won the Derby, and one of this field may emulate the first "Triple Crown" winner. AAA Churchill Downs president Bill Corum regards the Derby as something more than a horse race,. It has tremendous "reader interest," commands and gets a lot of space in the daily press, and presents racing as the great sport it is, if we may end a sentence to suit ourselves. In 77th Derby Still Is Wide Open Race Downs Classic Boon to American Turf Jockeys Guild Aids Ailing Members Bashford Manor Features Coming Week this way, the Kentucky Derby annually does a splendid job for racing nationally. More than 400 newspaper correspondents will cover the seventy-seventh Derby, for publications ranging from the Azuza Times to the Paris Herald. Not to mention the millions who will see and hear it on the radio, delayed telecasts and newsreels. Statistics show that the turfs popularity now exceeds that of any other major sport, though many of them have resorted to night games. AAA The Jockeys Guild is doing some commendable things, it seems to this observer. Whereas it used to represent erring riders at commission hearings, it now advocates minimum suspensions of 10 days for rough riding. And its secretary, Sterling Young, kindly has mailed us a statement of the Guild benefits paid during 1950. The statement doesnt include insurance payments, and shows that 2,025.03 was expended from the welfare fund for medical and financial aid. Medical services totaled ,634.13, financial aid ,747.68 and loans and donations ,643.22. It is clear that jockeys, like every other element in racing, "take care of their own," when they are deserving. A footnote to the report of expenditures states that the "loans" are so-called, "but past experience proves that an average of 10 per cent of all loans made have been collected. No interest is charged. Outstanding loans at Dec. 31, 1950, amount to 2,887.15." There is a certain correlation between the Guilds suggested minimum suspension for rough riding and its expenditures for medical and financial aid. The suggestion has been adopted by stewards in several states, and it is in the interest of cleaner racing as well as the safety of Guild members. AAA Racing at any meet might seem anticlimactic after a Kentucky Derby renewal, but the Downs sport next week will be rescued from the humdrum by the fifty-first Bashford Manor Stakes. This 0,000 added run of five furlongs is for male two-year-olds and the eligibles include Hudgens, Red Curtice, Oh Leo, Goyas Pass and 155 other newcomers. All the more promising colts who have escaped "the cough" will be in the starting field. Midwest racing during the next two weeks will be -notable also for the opening of Lincoln Fields-at-Washington on May 15, and the inaugural at Waterford Park, near Pittsburgh, on May 19. Lincoln Fields-at-Washington will introduce the new Chicago area admission policy, reduced to in the grandstand, .50 in the clubhouse. This is only a few cents more than the Annie Oakleys were with the service charges and tax. AAA Turf ana : Derby selectors may be interested that Sonic and Repetoire, who have been something less than spectacular in morning trials, are not good work horses . . . Waterford Park plans a press party May 8 to show newsmen about the Chester, W. Va., course . Sickles Images dam hasnt been bred since foaling that good trouper, but goes this season to Challenge Me . It is said Battlefield sometimes has to be persuaded to do things with a bull-whip . . Black cattle and white horses are the motif at Whitney Farm, which is selling some Angus . .Art appreciation runs high in the publicity office at the Downs. It boasts an original Stull, hung in a closet . A new duPont plant expands Louisville industry, and the Downs potential business . Flyamanitas return to action has been temporarily delayed ... J. Howard Rouse is well pleased with Middlegrounds progress in his first season at stud.
