Attendance Today Hard to Estimate: Restrictions on Travel Give Fifth War-Time Derby Back To Residents of Louisville, Daily Racing Form, 1943-05-01

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Attendance Today Hard to Estimate EstimateRestrictions Restrictions on Travel Give Fifth WarTime Derby Back To Residents of Louisville LouisvilleLOUISVILLE LOUISVILLE Ky April 30 The Ken ¬ tucky Derby which had its inception right after the Civil War and since has passed through several national crises and serious local emergencies tomorrow will have its fifth running under wartime conditions and the first that such a circumstance is going to affect seriously Even the most optimistic member of the Churchill Downs organization would not predict that the attendance tomorrow will even closely ap ¬ proximate last years turnout which due to the present world conflict was some ¬ what under that of the previous year yearJust Just to what extent present conditions will affect Derby Day attendance cannot be estimated and it remains for the after ¬ noon itself to reveal the difference that will accrue from war restrictions and other factors related thereto One element of patronage the outoftown visitor defi ¬ nitely is lost but the places of some of these patrons will be taken by residents of Louisville who either were not here or suf ¬ ficiently interested a year ago or did not attend because the supply of reservations was inadequate to take care of the demand This year because boxes and seats were not available to persons living away from here these Accommodations were placed at the disposal of the home folks who how ¬ ever are not expected to absorb them all allSome Some Predict Crowd of 40000 40000This This possible fact however should not be taken as a barometer of local enthusi ¬ asm for thousands of Louisvillians are en ¬ gaged in work that will prevent their at ¬ tendance at Churchill Downs tomorrow as much as they would like to be there as they have in the past At the same time Louisville whose population has increased by many thousands in recent months will provide numerous persons who will be see ing their first Derby and this condition makes possible an attendance of about 40000 track officials believe believeMissing Missing from the Downs tomorrow will be all of the national celebrities leaders in business political and the social life of the nation and also those many racing notables who heretofore lent color to Derby throngs Virtually the only outoftown people ex ¬ pected are those who happen to be in the theContinued Continued on Page Forty Size of Today s Derby Crowd Hard to Estimate EstimateFifth Fifth Running of World Famous Race Under WarTime Conditions ConditionsContinued Continued from Page One Onecity city and the racing folk who have been here since the opening of the Kentucky season seasonSubstantially Substantially reduced too will be the number of sports writers race reporters photographers and special correspondents who customarily x descend on Churchill Downs for the purpose of relaying in word and picture the scenes that will take place here tomorrow tomorrowA A good portion of the crowd that will thrill to the strains of My Old Kentucky Home as the horses parade to the post for the Derby will be men in uniform khaki and blue of the U S armed forces On their regular weekend leaves many hun ¬ dreds of such service men are expected to make the trek to the Downs and with few exceptions all of them will see their first running of this epic turf event eventWhile While restrictions applying to train au ¬ tomobile and other travel from distant points will make impossible the presence of outoftowners local fans will be ade ¬ quately served by public utilities which even in normal times transport a great percentage of Derby guests to the track The Downs can be reached from any part of Louisville and its suburbs by street cars and busses and the track is so situated that many hundreds who will be there to ¬ morrow need no transportation transportationCol Col Matt J Winn and his associates in Churchill Downs have cooperated 100 per cent with the Washington and local offices of the government in discouraging violation of regulations and restrictions pertaining to travel


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1940s/drf1943050101/drf1943050101_1_6
Local Identifier: drf1943050101_1_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800