Eighteen Pass Entry Box for Derby; Doubledogdare Tops Field for Oaks: Reaping Right Raps Himself In Work and Will Not Start; Favorite Needles Draws Rail For Classic Tomorrow; Track Conditions on Uncertain Side, Daily Racing Form, 1956-05-04

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DINO LOZZI The Seattle Wash Washowner owner was at Churchill Downs yesterday yesterdaymorning morning to see his Count Chic work five fivefurlongs furlongs in 1 03V Eighteen Pass Entry Box for Derby Doubledogdare Tops Field for Oaks Reaping Right Raps Himself In Work and Will Not Start Favorite Needles Draws Rail For Classic Tomorrow Track Conditions on Uncertain Side SideBy By OSCAR OTIS OTISCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 3 Eighteen of the finest threeyear olds in America those who have proved their right to start in Americas great threeyearold classic passed the entry box here this morning to declare their in ¬ tent 48 hours in advance of the actual Kentucky Derby running of making a try for the eightysecond running of the 125000 added Derby which will be de ¬ cided late in the afternoon Saturday before 100000 and more rabid fans fansIn In a drama laden setting in the office of the racing secretary the draw for post positions was made to the accompaniment of flash bulbs of photographers and radio recording newscasters newscastersNeedles Needles who reigns as the favorite al ¬ most on the eve of the Derby a post he has maintained from the beginning was the first horse out of the box and the luck of the dice gave him number one post position positionOther Other important assignments saw Career Boy in number 2 Head Man 5 Pihtor Lea 4 Terrang 12 Fabius 13 and Counter ¬ mand on the extreme outside number 18 18Track Track Remains Muddy MuddyThe The element of uncertainty which has been the outstanding feature of this Derby and has made it one of the most exciting in the whole of Derby history prevailed right down to the luck of the draw drawThe The track remained muddy with early morning showers helping to keep it that way from yesterday and with an official forecast for unsettled weather through Saturday SaturdayThe The exact status of the condition of the Derby track for Saturday remains in doubt If the weatherman is wrong it could be fast or near fast but if additional showers appear and it was partly cloudy late this morning the track could remain off but just what state of offness will prevail would not actually be known until shortly before post time timeAn An unique occurrence for the Derby had everyone somewhat amazed but it was in the tradition set for this particular Derby of uncertainty and that was the odd case of Reaping Right owned by T Alie Grissom GrissomAn An agent for the stable entered both Reaping Right and Invalidate while trainer V R Tennessee Wright was blowing out Reaping Right but the horse rapped him ¬ self in the trial and as soon as it could be done Wright rushed over to the office of the secretary to withdraw the winner of the Louisiana Derby DerbyHowever However the stewards ruled that he had technically passed the entry box and therefore was liable for the 250 fee and therefore the colt was drawn into the race getting number 3 post However it was stated that he will not be a starter which thus at this moment cuts the starting field to 17 even though 18 are listed in the of ¬ ficial entry list listBud Bud Lepman agent for Douglas Dodson drew the numbered dice out of the shaker to determine the post positions as Jimmy Bracken agent for Johnny Adams drew out the entry slips one at a time Each slip was then matched against the pill as it is known on the race track and the post positions were thus decided decidedCountermand Countermand to Break From Outside OutsideBecause Because of the makeup of this eighty second running of the Kentucky Derby with a whole flock of the contenders run ¬ ning their best race from way off the pace the luck of the draw was not considered too decisive For instance the number 1 post is not expected to detract from the chances of Needles but the outside post of Countermand was deemed less desir ¬ able because to get a contending position early if Arnold Kirkland actually elects Continued on Page Three Eighteen Pass Entry Box for Derby Reaping Right Out Raps Self in Trial TrialFavorite Favorite Needles Draws Rail For Classic Tomorrow Track Conditions on Uncertain Side SideContinued Continued from Page On Onto to do so he must drift over from quite a distance out and he can do that only assuming that he is in the clear at the time timeInvalidate Invalidate is a fast horse and he drew number 16 while Head Man who no doubt will get a position early is a better position in number 5 5Terrang Terrang the last horse drawn drew a midfield position number 12 right next to Fabius in number 13 13Count Count Chic who will get a position early if his past stakes races may be taken as a criterion drew number 6 and High King an admittedly slow beginner is next in 7 7A A prolonged conference this mottling between owner W E Buck Britt of Clayton New Mexico and his trainer former Louisvillian Dick Waggoner re ¬ sulted in a decision to enter the winner of the California Derby who drew num ¬ ber 8 8Neither Neither Mr Britt nor myself were too happy with No Regrets race in the Derby Trial and for a while we considered with ¬ drawing him as Mr Britt did not wish a starter bearing his colors in the Derby by a horse who obviously would not have much of a chance explained Waggoner this morning morningBut But on a more careful analysis of the Derby Trial we felt the colt was definitely short in that race shorter than we had realized and it is entirely probable that he not only will benefit greatly from his i trial effort but perhaps enough so that his effort Saturday will make him one of the contenders This being the case the only decision we could make was to give the horse his big chance chanceOther Other post positions listed include Ben A Jones in number 9 Besomer in 10 Come On Red who gambled his 250 to pass the box fee on the chance that the track will remain muddy is in number 11 Black Emperor in 14 Jean Baptiste in 15 and King o Swords in 17 17This This is the first year that entries for the Derby have closed 48 hours in advance of the race and the procedure worked smoothly and without a hitch It was unfortunate of course that the bizarre accident to Reaping Right happened at just the time it did but the only damage was the 250 cost to owner T A Grissom However the overall benefits to the Derby and to racing for all America knows today the probable starting lineup a full day in advance are such that we are sure owner Grissom will accept the luck as just one of those things in horse racing racingMorning Morning pre Derby activity continued to dominate backstretch interest this morn ¬ ing with Calumet Farms Pintor Lea among others centering the eyes of rail birds Pintor Led Breezes Six Furlongs FurlongsWith With Robert L Baird in the irons Pin tor Lea breezed six furlongs through the mud in 117 with the following fractions furlong in 12 quarter in 25 three fur ¬ longs in 38J half mile in 51 and five furlongs in 1 04 He was accompanied dur ¬ ing the latter stages of this trial by the good filly Beyond BeyondJean Jean Baptiste a midweek arrival from New York where he accomplished most of his serious training for the Derby also elected to travel six furlongs equipped with blinkers and bandages behind His time for the six furlongs was 117 with fractions of furlong in 12 quarter in 25 three furlongs in 38 half mile in 51 and five furlongs in 104 104Jean Jean Baptiste looked fit and his work was quite acceptable acceptableOwner Owner Dino Lozzi of Seattle was on hand this morning to see the California con ¬ tender Count Chic take his last serious prep for the big race Saturday The son of Count Speed with Steve Brooks in the irons and wearing blinkers scooted along a handy five furlongs in 103 Count Chics fractions were a furlong in 12 quarter in 25 three furlongs in 37 and half mile in 50 dockers were impressed with his sharp appearing manner of going goingCome Come On Red who is supposed to start only in case of slush worked a mile in l5QYs but he elected to keep to the mid ¬ dle of the track so while he wasnt going too fast to be sure nevertheless the final time and the fractions were deceptive as to his true rate of speed because of the immense amount of ground he was losing between the poles when it came to making the turns turnsCome Come On Red was wearing four ba d ages His fractions were furlong1 in 134s quarter in 27 three furlongs in 40 half mile in 53 five furlongs in i08 six furlongs in 122 and seven furlongs in 136 136Trainer Trainer Meshach Tenney walked Ter ¬ rang this morning and decided that his final blowout perhaps a brisk move of about five furlongs would talce place either tomorrow or Saturday morning morningThree Three Derby candidates contented them selves with gallops the trio just sauntering along for the air being Career Boy Head Man and Besomer


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Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800