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Churchill Downs By Charles Nation Gen Duke Gives His Backers a Turn May Improve in Derby Foot and All Federal Hill Raises Louisvilles Hopes HopesCHURCHILL CHURCHILL DOWNS Louisville Ky May 1 The Derby trainers had a high old time at the KTJ3As annual dinner in the roof garden of J Graham Browns hostelry on Fourth Avenue last evening But nobody was dancing around a maypole at Calumet this morning Gen Duke not only turned some of his backers ivory tower of confidence into a storm cellar of concern in yesterday afternoons Derby Trial he got up this morning with a bruised left fore hoof As you might imagine there were some anxious moments while Dr Alex Harthill made a spotcheck Xray to determine if there was any separation which would eliminate the favorite from Saturdays Run for the Roses RosesHe He just found a small dark place which could be the seat of the bruise mayor Jimmy Jones reported to early risers among the newsmen We are putting poultices on the foot now When the pus is released the pressure will be removed Yes he reassured us he will run in Jthe Derby unless there is some further complication Luckily his work is behind him He could walk up to the Derby now We have had experience with these things before Lawrin had a bruise and had to wear a bar plate in the Derby Trial His occurred 10 days before the Derby We pulled the bar off for the Derby itself Of course we will give The General some protection putting felt under the shoe Actually there is no heat in the foot He did not favor it cooling out We noticed it when he walked off after standing to graze a while and took a few hesitant steps stepsDiagnosis Diagnosis Best News to Hartack Succinctly this observer thinks that if he liked Gen Duke in the Derby before the Trial and before his hoof injury which apparently has been developing for some weeks he would like him still At any rate Willie Hartack smiled a relieved smile when Harthill made his diagnosis It clearly buoyed up his hopes and it could be construed as a partial explanation of the colts failure to make more impression on Federal Hill in the Trial There was nothing in the Bull Lea colts action to suggest he was amiss but his race doubtless aggravated the injury injuryWhen When Iron Liege went out at the end of the back stretch after giving Federal Hill futile chase Hartack asked The Gen to run flicking him with his stick severdl times Moving from last position Mrs Markeys record breaker began a long sustained run maneuver ¬ ing inside and outside like Har tacks Jaguar At the end of a mile in 136 Cliff Lusskys flyer still was in front however and appeared to us a comfortable winner He was a second and a fifth behind Hasty Roads track mark but was carrying more weight 122 pounds than any previous Trial winner And he went out the Derby route in 204 There now are many civicminded neighbors of Cliff Lusskys here in Louis ¬ ville who are encouraged 4o hope Federal Hill will forget to stop in Saturdays classic classicFurther Further Evidence of Racings Appeal AppealIt It is a tribute to the tremendous appeal of the Kentucky Derby as opposed to other sports that here in Louisville some of the other forms of diversion are riding racings coat tails so to speak For example there is something called the Derby Open golf tourna ¬ ment here The other day on a newsstand we saw a handsome official Derby souvenir with an appropri ¬ ate sketch of a field hurtling into the turn at the Downs on the cover We sprang for 50 cents to secure a copy Turned out tcube all about the golf tournament with a few pages of canned stuff en the Derby among the ads in the back We felt that we had been properly sandtrapped There is also the idea of having a Derby eve boxing card The point is that both these enter ¬ prises are an opportunistic move to cashier some of the Derbys appeal For of course it is Saturdays roaring mile and a quarter that brings the thousands of visitors to this racing mecca from all points of the compass compassWe We have no quarrel with those who prefer boxing hockeyinseason or childrens games such as baseball football and basketball Nor with those having the catholic taste and well balanced integrated personali ¬ ties to devote time to a variety of sports But quite by accident we caught a couple of innings of what ap ¬ parently passes for big league baseball in the present day And we do not wonder attendance figures are falling off alarmingly Similarly it is refreshing to see a wrestling match in which the participants actually use holds We do not speak of boxing The simple fact is that horseracing is the only sport we know that has maintained its standards If anything the prerequisites of titular performance are higher than ever before Depend upon it if you have not seen a Derby in 20 or 30 years Saturdays will be fully as well run the com ¬ petitors of as high calibre as any you saw in the past Indeed they are saying at the Downs today that this is the toughest Derby of them all
