The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-05-05
ONLY II MAY
GO TO POST IN
DERBY CLASSIC
It's 'Anybody's Race Says
Joe Williams: But He
Picks Head Play.
LADYSMAN Is FAVORITE
who Do You Like?' Is
Theme Song at Louisville
on Eve of Event.
BY JOE WILLIAMS
Times Special Writer


LOUISVILLE, KY. May 5-"Who
do you like?" That's the theme song
of Churchill Downs today with the
f1fty-ninth running of the Ken
lucky Derby twenty-four hours
away.
There are SIS many answers as
there are starters-and the indica-
tons are at the moment that the
field will be comparatively small,
probably seventeen in all.
So the Derby looks to be an open
race-anybody's race-just as it did
months ago when the nominations
first were recorded There isn't
real standout boss in the race, I'M
less you except Ladysman, the ia
vorite.
And how did Ladysman become
the favorite? He was the most con-
sistent of the 2-year- olds. It is as
Sumed, therefore, by the profess
SIGNALS that, year older, he must
be the best.
There's No Such Thing
This comes under the head of
race track logic. 1t would be i'm
portant if there was any such thing
as race track logic. But, of course,
there isn't. Race track logicians
wear tattered clothes, sleep in barns,
and eat when and if.
Ladysman very easily may be the
best, but if you could be sure of
that you could end all the country's
financial worries Saturday. How
about Mr.. Khayyam, winner of the
Chesapeake? How about Charley
o. winner of the Florida Derby?
How about Pomponius, the picture
boss of the racer" How, indeed"
Now, you can't pick all of them.
And even if you could, you would
have no guarantee that you had
the winner A 100-to-1 shot once
won the Derby. There is no law
against another 100-to-1 shot win
ming it. But if you are going to
have a roofing interest in the race
and what fun is there if you
havent-you must pick some boss.
He Picks Head Play
So If you feel as I do about it,
you will pick Head Play, the ten
cent store boss from Tennessee. 1
call him that because he didn't cost
his boyiSh owner Willie Crump of
Nashville much more than peck of
oats. But you already know about
that.
1 got up at dawn Thursday.
You mean, you stayed up till
dawn, you mug"
Ignoring the vulger bourgeoise, I
got up at dawn and went to the
track to see the Derby bosses work
among them LadySman, Head Play
and Colonel E. r. Bardley's Brokers
Tip.
Dawn in the Blue Grass regions, I
suppose. is much like dawn any
where else. 1t is just dawn. But
there is something peculiarly dra-
matte about race track at dawn.
Viewed through the chiffon gray
mist of early morning the galloping
bosses and shadowy human figures
produce a ghostly effect, like watch
ing a Swift-moving panorama
through a soft blur.
They Show Their Glass
Only the checkers and the track
regulars are able to tell what bosses
are working and who they are.
Mostly they come out in units of
three and four, and even if the
stranger knows what unit is work
ing he usually finds it difficult to
single out the stable Star-the one
for whom the work was planned
specifically.
When all candles be out, all cats
be gray"
But you could tell when Ladys-
man was out. you could tell when
Head Play was out. and you could
tell when Brokers Tip was out.
You could tell because they weren't
out very long before they displayed
distinguishing mannerisms
To describe these distinguishing
mannerisms is not simple. Very
likely you sensed rather than saw
the difference. But it was unmiS-
takablv there