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Between Races By OSCAR OTIS CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 2 President Bill Corum summarizes the seventyeighth Kentucky Derby tomor ¬ row afternoon when he remarks The Derby field is variable from year to year and this years running shapes up as one of the great ¬ est horse races in his ¬ tory There is no true standout which insures that the Derby as a contest will be as exciting as any Derby ever run Most every ¬ one with a horse in the race seems to feel that he or she has more than the proverbial fighting chance In many ways Id rather see a Derby of this kind than one in which the only advance uncertainty is to whether or not a top heavy favorite can be beaten We are particularly fortunate in having it this way for the first live telecast of the Derby As I have explained before the future of the Derby and its relationship to live television will depend a great deal on what happens tomorrow As you probably know the tele ¬ cast will be of 45 minutes duration of which the first 15 minutes will be un sponsored time the last 30 minutes spon ¬ sored by Gillette Razor Company We have gone to unusual lengths for our 15 minutes to bring to the American racing public the color tradition and atmosphere of the Derby We will have pretty girls for which Kentucky is famous a jug band shots of the people in the tulip gardens near the paddock We felt that most people who had never been to a race track might like to see a character Hence we are putting on Jimmy Moran of New Orleans Moran as most Derby regulars know is the dia ¬ mond king The man is literally covered with the baubles all real Even his glasses are encrusted with the precious stones stonesOn On the eve of the Derby Stanley Hug enbersr executive vicepresident revealed that for the first time in perhaps the history of Churchill Downs a master plan would be inaugurated to make the future of the physical plant modern and commodious but without altering the tradition which provides much of the Derby atmosphere and charm We have applied for permission and if we get it will start work the day after Churchill closes its spring meeting to tear out the innards of the old clubhouse and put in foundations which will permit us to ex ¬ pand the seating capacity in depth The crying heed at Churchill Downs is not for more seats so much as for more good seats The present stand is too shallow By providing for an expansion in depth we will be making it possible to expand from year to year according to a pattern which eventually will lead us to where we wish to go Our architects have ad ¬ vised us that if we were to tear Churchill Downs down and rebuild from scratch we would have to cancel two Derbies As of tomorrow the Derby will have been run 78 years in the same setting and we obviously are not disposed to cancel out that unbroken run If permission comes through as we hope and expect we will have about 3600 new box seats and good ones for the next Derby DerbyChurchill Churchill Downs is well aware of its responsibility to American racing by reason of the fact that the Derby is an event of national sports significance adds Hugen berg We are sick and tired of year after year being forced to turn people down for box seats We feel that it is our duty towards racing to provide suitable accom ¬ modations for the business financial and political leaders of the United States as well as foreign dignitaries because if we present the Derby as being a fine racing event we feel that this in turn will create an understanding of racing as a sport among these leaders and by so doing will create a more favorable atmosphere a spirit of understanding if you please in every state in the union and in Washing ¬ ton In our rebuilding program we inci ¬ dentally will accomplish two other ends We will reduce our fire hazard and it goes without saying that Churchill has the most complete fire protection of any track in America because as I pointed out it would take us at least two years to rebuild Sec ¬ ondly we will reduce our maintenance costs which run to about 500000 a year and what is saved on that expense can rightly be used to improve the racing racingIt It may not come as earthshaking news but it nevertheless is a Derby first and as such is worthy of mentioning for the records This is the item that glass whips are to be used in the Derby on Saturday the glass replacing the time honored whalebone covered with leather leatherContinued Continued on Page FortySix BETWEEN RACES RACESI I Bj OSCAR OTIS Continued from Page Three ThreeJockey Jockey Eddie Arcar is using a glasi baton en Hill Gail and M is Bar York on Arroz The glass whips were so far as we can learn first introduced in Cali ¬ fornia They are said to be more pliable than the old fashioned variety stand up under abuse never wear out and are almost impossible to break They also speak to a horse with a little more au ¬ thority than the old leather paddle The glass whips cannot be detected by the eye as they have a light sheath of leather but they are glass nonetheless R E Lanny Leighninger steward at Golden Gate tells us that the glass whips there are now the rage and are being universally used on the West Coast Glass has been used to make fishing rods re ¬ placing bamboo for some years and will under the stress of a salmon bend almost double The advantage of the glass over the whalebone is said to be that the whip adjusts itself to the contour of the struck surface in this case the horse and thus the rider gets more benefit from its use A weak whipper becomes stronger and a strong whipper could be ¬ come if he lacked judgment a powerful factor in convincing the horse to do his utmost utmostHorses Horses and people While the Derby is worldnews perhaps nowhere will the re ¬ sult be more eagerly awaited than in Lex ¬ ington for a Derby winner can make some bloodlines fashionable and if already fashionable almost priceless Typical of the interest aroused in the most out of the way places is a communication from Cecil MacLean sports announcer for CJFX Antigonish Nova Scotia which informs that the Derby outcome there is creating a great deal of excitement Churchill Downs does not vary in track surface from year to year and 203 is still considered the gauge of a horses greatness Any ¬ thing faster than that is deemed a worth ¬ while victory Conn McCrearys sugges ¬ tion that the rider of the Derby be given a trophy has been accepted by the man ¬ agement and starting with this year the jockey will get a replica of the Derby cup the replica to be worth 1500 It is sterling silver No jockey will be able to win more than one however If he wins more than one Churchill will provide the additional and suitable engraving
