The Wilmington morning star., 1940-05-04
R1MELECH TOPS DERBY ENTRIES
FIELD IS READY;
FAIR SKIES SEEN
EIGHTY Thousands May Watch
66th Running Of Churchill
Downs Classic
BY SID FEEDER

Everything looked maze 10 oToei
for Big Boy Bimelech tonight.
A field of nine was named for to-
morrow's 66th running of the Ken
lucky Derby and old man weather
promised to turn off his frost and
rain faucets for the big doings.
Derby-town was on its usual JAM
packed Derby-eve merry-go-round
accompanied by the customary must
cal comedy didoes arour'i the Fourth
and Walnut corner and in every
hotel lobby.
With sun and fair weather on tap,
it was conceivable that the turnout
might skyrocket~ over the 10000
mark anticipated at Churchill
Downs for the annual four-star turf
show. The derby field is slated to go
to the post in the negihborhood of
4.45 .. m. Central standard time) to
the tune of my Old Kentucky
Home" sung by Movie Actress Irene
Dunno.
It was still as cold as the inside
of your ice box around here tonight
and the track IA slow, but the dirty
[grey sky sent a few days of sunshine
down late this afternoon and the
weather man said he'd fix it up just
dandy for the folks in general and
Bimelech in particular tomorrow.
Mr.. Weather didn't say positively
but if he does his stuff and provides
a fast running strip, it will just
make the whole acknowledgements
affair more lopsided for Bimmie,
who is bidding a fifth derby victory
for Col. E. R. Bradley and who prob
ably will be the shortest priced ia
vorite in the history of the classic.
If he's as good as 2 to 5 in the mu-
fuels, the betting boys and girls will
consider it a bargain, indeed, and if
he wins (Which just about everybody
fully expects) he'll collect a neat
$50, 675 as the winners end in a
nine-horse race.
In the overnight field entered to-
day at least seven of which are
positive starters-Bimelech is likely
to have opposition only if the track
is "off." With the exception of Ar
mold Hangers Dit. the $4,000 Sara
toga yearling sales bargain who
romped off with the Wood memorial
last week, the standouts r the
slop-steppers, like William L. Brann'
Pictor, a son OF Challenger End, who
really can pick EN- up and lay 'em
down in the soup; Royal Man,
bought by Harold S. Clark, of Miami
Beach, Fla, last winter for SIS, 900;
Joseph E. Widener's Roman, never
beaten in mud, and Mrs. Ethel v.
Mars Gallahadion.
On a fast track the threats are
Dit and Midland, the California CLAM
our boy with the international blood
lines, for whom Charles S. Howard
kicked in SIS, 900 a few months back.
The other two in the field are
Sirocco, owned by Charles T. Fisher,
of the Fisher body Fishers, and the
wonder why" colt, True Star, a
yearling sales purchase for $3.50 rep
resenting the barn of Martin j. Sch
midtt, a local lawyer. True Star was
a surprise entry this morning.
Sirocco, will go to the post only If
the track is fast, and may have q
different jockey aboard him than the
originally-slated Albert Bodiou. Few
expect Schmidt will 90 through
with starting his horse, inasmuch as
it never has been any particular
ball of fire against colts with a lot
less class than Bimelech, Dit, Pictor
and Co.
Dit and Sirocco are the geldings
in the field; the rest are colts.
One Of the mysteries around this
derby-daffy town tonight was wheth-
Ell Col. Bradley, aged and ailing,
would come over from Lexington to
see the colt he insists is the best he
ever owned run for the all-time high
derby record for n owner. The col
onel would like nothing better, but
his physicians have advised against
it, fearing the shock of victory or de-
feat may harm him, may possibly
prove fatal. But Bradley has init
mated that he may just toss off the
doctors advice and slip into the
grounds inside his car.
Bimelech, undefeated in eight
starts over his two year racing ca.
reer, stands out as potentially the
greatest thoroughbred since Man O.
War;, and if he goes to the races as
many times as he's expected to this
year-the Preakness, the Belmont,
the Withers and the Arlington
classic and a few others with juicy
pots-he may wind up as a greater
money winner than ~Seabiscuit.
Although he's just about as close
to a unanimous choice as you can
get without sewing the thing up in
advance, Bimmie has several dark
horses to. buck in this route gallop,
just as Johnstown had a year ago.
This time, the bunch players feel,
lit may be Dit, Pictor or Midland, but
lyour honest-to-goodness hardboot
|gives that talk the hoss-laugh. When
|Bimmie runs down the stretch with
his tongue sticking out the side Of
his mouth, they tell you, therell be
nothing else in sight.
MILLS RECALLED
NEW YORK. May 3.-R-Colonel
(Buster) Mills, right handed out