Recalls Derby Race Of Long Ago., Daily Racing Form, 1915-04-04

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RECALLS DEUBY RACE OF LONG AGO Louisville Ky April 3 Great expectations are entertained of the coming Kentucky Derby race This famous 10000 added threeyearold stake will be decided this season at the Louisville course that has been known for forty years as Churchill Downs the home of the New Louisville iiockey Club of which Charles F Grainger is president and M J Winn is manager managerThis This spring the great event will be run on Satur ¬ day May S the Oxniiig day of twelve days of the sport at this course ending on Friday May 21 when will ho decided tho Kentucky Oaks a race which lias a history as long as that of the Derby and the winners of which include many turf queens To flnd a threeyearold event which compared in interest with the Kentucky Porbv race of this season it is necesary to go back to 1S94 when Dom ¬ ino and Senator Grady came west to till their en ¬ gagements in the merican Derby Domino up to that time had never known defeat and Senator Grady had also a remarkable record having as a twoyearold won all his races after his first start In tho American Derby lie was making his first public threeyearoldThis appearance as a threeyearold This year there is a trio of unbeaten turf cracks among the Kentucky Derby eligibles namely Last Coin Iron Duke and Regret The latter is a lilly cf such high class that she may at last break the hoodoo which has followed her sex in this event and lead home her field in the prize as has occurred several times in the famous Epsom Derby and in fact as recently as 1912 when the gray lilly Tagalie won the famous classic at Epsom Downs Regret triumphed last season over colts and geldings as well as lillies and she at least has a look in for the coming great Kentucky event To speak of great races of the past always calls up a flood of memories Perhnps no race in this country ever attracted more attention than the American Derby of 1SD1 The coining Kentucky Derby may turn out to lie a sensational race but no matter how brilliant it is it cannot result in u greater upset than when Domino and Senator Grady vere beaten in llu American Derby at Washington Lark As a speculative event that race set the sporting world agog The racing public wagered many thousands of dollars on the chances oC Domino many believing that he was sure to quit the turf with an unbeaten record while the followers of Sena tor Grady from Montana the homo of Marcus Daly his owner kept backing that colt until the lield loft the harrien harrienMuch Much thirty and some forty to one was laii agaiast the chances of the Californiabred colt Rcy el Santa Anita which had done some fairly good racing as a twoyearold and had just arrivoi from Latonia where he had won n good race bill none of the good judges of racing form regarded him as having a lookin when it came to racing with such colts as Domino and Senator Grady He was then trained by Henry McDaniei who is now in charge of the big racing array of the Canadian turfman Robert Davies and his condition surely reflected credit on that skillful handler of horses as he was tit to the minute minuteIn In looking back now that the wonderful race has long been history it is easily to be seen why Rey el Santa Anita should have been regarded more highly by the followers of form and breeding than he was The fact was Domino and Senator Grady possessed such prestige that the racing pub ¬ lic as well as the talent were carried away with their records and never thought of inquiring into tlie probability of either or Iwth of them being able to run well over the Derby route It was known they possessed remarkable speed and the general opinion seemed to be that the one that could outrun the other would win the prize The wise ones overlooked the fact that E J Baldwin was sending Rey el Santa Anita to the post and that in three other seasons he had won this race TJiey also forgot that the far western turfman had thought so well of this son of imported Cheviot as to give him the equivalent of the English name King of Santa Anita after the great estate that is still one of the beauty spots of Southern California to beautify which he spent freely of his great fortune fortuneFred Fred Taral who rode Domino that day tried to place the sou of Himyar In passing the grandstand the black colt had his mouth wide open aiid iis rider did not let him down until well in the back stretch Then when he called on him Domino gave it tip apparently at once and tho further the distance was increased the worse he was beaten That day settled the question of the stamina of the black twoyearold champion of 1S93 He was a phe ¬ nomenal sprinter and when he went into the stud he sired stayers in both the first and second genera ¬ tions tionsSenator Senator Grady made the best showing of the pair in the great Derby race He made all the running until Rey el Santa Anita took the lead away from him at the end of aboiit 1 18 miles and then withstanding the challenge of the other contestants lasted to take second money As to the winner the California colts victory was clean cut and decisive After J 1S miles he ran away from his com ¬ pany at will and won with marked ease Later on in his career lie held his own with such horses as Henry of Navarre and Clifford and will ever enjoy a high rank among the Derby winners of America


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1910s/drf1915040401/drf1915040401_2_6
Local Identifier: drf1915040401_2_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800