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Judges Stand I By Charles Hatton Trainers See Needles as the OnetoBeat Fabius Race Better Than It LookedCorum Downs Derby Reflect a Lengthening Shadow ShadowCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 3 Here we are back at Churchill Downs where the weather is down but the play is up as Col Bill Corum was re ¬ marking just now The town once again is permeated by that strange witchery which precedes a Run for the Roses an aura which seems to rise like the mists from the banks of the Ohio when the big day appraches And to all indications this is going to be the biggest Derby ever from the standpoint of attendance which means a crowd of more than 100000 Corum tells us that the starting field may number as many as 20 that at the horsemens dinner the other night the rival trainers saw Needles as the horseto beat that Governor Happy Chandler will present the trophy and that in a 15 minutes TV show preceding the historymaking mile and a quarter Billy Pearson and Mrs Sherbourne will be asked the 64000 question of Who is going to win winThis This Derby shapes up quite an open race though the D H Stables Needles long the futures favorite still looms the choice Fabius race in the Derby Trial of a flat mile was better than it looked on paper in Corums opinion The track was described officially as fast but was not much better than good Mr Derby remarked and yet he went a mile in the lively time of 136 Obviously the Jones boys are cranking him up much as they did their previous five Derby winners As you doubtless know this will be Willie Hartacks first mount in the classic and 1955s leading rider hopes to have some beginners luck Last year everyone was wondering if Citation was going to come through as a progenitor but here it is Derby time and not only does he have Fabius in the epic mile and a quarter but also the lovely Beyond in the Kentucky Oaks If as many as 17 start in this Derby the winner will collect a race record nefr of 123300 not to mention the enduring fame which accrues to the winner of the classic at Fourth and Central avenues avenuesBoasts Boasts More Seats Than Any Other Track TrackThe The Downs stadia have been ramifying for many years until now they extend from the quarter pole almost to the six furlongs pole atop the backstretch It has seating facilities for approximately 35000 the most at any course in this country Many of the im ¬ provements were effected by Tom Young and his staff under the direction of the late Col Matt J Winn When the latter took the helm the twin spires a trade ¬ mark atop the grandstand roof marked the ends of the stands and there was a small clubhouse of Colonial design something like that at old Emprice City during the Butler regime Winn had some interesting convic tons about race track architecture He often talked of extending the present grandstand to connect with the detached structure at the top of the stretch but some ¬ how nothing ever came of it itHe itV V He also was a stickler for tunnels beneath the track to protect it when the crowds overflowed into the innerfield and he had one at Latonia as well as at Churchill Downs Years ago he went to Germany and conceived the idea of having a terraced innerfield with subterranean restaurants mutuels and toilet facilities No details was too minute to escape his notice For weeks previous to the Derby he would explore the course with his maintenance staff It was not uncom ¬ mon for him to pause in these tours and direct them to put a concessions stand here We have got to take care of these people This observer worked on the Derby for many years with Jack Robinson and Connie Savage and saw it grow from a local affair into the greatest sports event in America AmericaAt At one time the track offered both mutuels it was among the first to adopt them and the book The pad ¬ dock instead of being behind the stand was situated near what is now the administration building and rivalled Saratogas for shade and greenery Eternal Exterminator and Sir Barton were saddle there Winn always said that the beginning of the Derby as we know it today came when Harry Payne Whitney shipped in Regret the only filly etc This was the impetus which assured it eastern support It was among his tenets that dates are the most important factor in successful race track operation and judging from the response to the Derby first leg of the Triple Crown they still are areInfluence Influence NotConfined to Louisville Sport SportAlthough Although the promotion of the Derby was his crowning achievement it must be remembered also that he forged a place in New York racing for Empire City over the protest of The Jockey Club and that for years he was interested in the operations of Laurel when it was staging matches between Hourless and Omar Khayyam and in Latonia when it put on the third International in which Sarazen won from Epi nard Zev and others of one of the best fields ever as ¬ sembled He was not a Barnum but his showmanship was sound and something went out of racing with him himTurf Turf ana Brick Martin of Laurel tells us that a new entrance is planned for the grandstand the in ¬ stallation of escalators new lighting new tile floors and decor The track will be open to horses until after Pimlico closing at the end of June Joe Cascarella CascarellaContinued Continued on Page ThirtyNine JUDGES STAND By CHARLES HATTON Continued from Page f ortyfgni ortyfgniis is going to devote a lot of time this sum ¬ mer to Laurels fall meetingsvisiting New York New England and Chicago tracks Hugh Fontaine as usual is stopping at a hotel He prefers them Tom Young periodically gives the Downs tulip beds a transfusion of imported stock from Holland He will doubtless seal the rac ¬ ing surface as usual for Derby Day Laurel is staging a horsenaming contest Thousands of suggestions The prize is a trip to Bermuda BermudaThe The Downs is among the few surfaces which can accommodate a field of 20 Arcaro and Guerin will save with one an ¬ other in the Derby Rocky Marciano is among those expected to be present for this Derby Many of Laurels patrons arrive after the second race It is a late crowd John Schapiro is making up sets of colors for the Aga Khan the Aly Khan Suze Volterra and many other for ¬ eign owners That old familiar phrase 1 everything is in readiness applies to Pimlico Dear Albens passing cast a pall over Kentucky One participant in the naming contest requested Send me two tickets to Laurel as I do not feel I can take time off for Bermuda The Touchdown Club was out en force the 1 other afternoon at the Maryland course courseThe The Downs press box elevator appro ¬ priately called The Buck Weaver is kept increasingly busy these days as some 250 newsmen rally round for the Rose Run Weaver entered a demurrer against those long flight of steps Spencer Drayton will be on hand for the Derby I Don Lillis now is in Spain Subahdar is said to be training well for this weekends 15000 Laurel Handicap in which he has topweight of 120 pounds The late CoL E R Bradley was among the original pa ¬ trons of Churchill Downs in its formative years He acquired his first horse Prince j John about 1905 and twice finished one I two in the Derby with Behave Yourself and Black Servant and Bubbling Over and I Baggenbaggage PS Behave Yourself ran in on him One of the naming contest ¬ ants a publisher of a Maryland paper who suggested the contest is disqualified I through delinquency in his dues
