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e , $ Sidelights on the Kentucky Derby There were 196 thoroughbreds nominated for the 1028 rn lining of the Kentucky Derby as compared with 162 last year. Omar Khayyam was the first and only imported throughhred to win the • famous classic. Sir Barton was the first maiden to score a Kentucky Derby victory. It also was his first start as a three-year-old. Sir Barton is the only horse to date to win both the Derby and the Preakness. Regret is the only filly that ever triumphed. Only one Kentucky Derby winner has ever sired a winner of the event. Halma won in 1895. Seven years Liter his son Alan-a-Dale duplicated the feat. The most valuable Derby ever run was the 1922 renewal, won by Morvich. The winners share that year amounted to 3,775. The Derby, since its inauguration in 1875, has been run at two distances. Until 1896 it was one and a half miles. Since then it has been a test of one mile and a quarter. The fastest Derby run at the longer distance was in 1889 when Spokane won in 2:34 1-2. Old Rosebud was the record holder for the event at one mile and a quarter. He won the 1914 running in 2:03 2-5.. This stood as the track record until 1916 when Woodtrap clipped one-fifth of a second off it. The longest-priced Derby winner was Donerail. He paid 92 to 1 when he won in 1913. In 1908 Stone Streets backers received 60 to 1 on their tickets. Forty-five per cent, of the post-time favorites have won. The Derby has been won by forty-six colts, six geldings and one filly. Tirgil and Falsetto are the only sires whose get won three Derbys. Virgil sired Vagrant, which won in 1876, Hindoo, winner in 1881, and Ben Ali, the victor in 1886. Falsetto sired Chant, winner in 1894; His Fminence, which won in 1901, and Sir Huon, conqueror of the field in 1906. Longfellow, King Alfonso, Broomstick, The Finn and McGee each number two Derby winners among their progeny. Longfellows winning get were Leonatus, 1883, and Riley, 1890. King Alfonso was the sire of Fonso, 1880, and Joe Cotton, 1885. Broomstick has the unique distinction of having sired the only filly winner, Regret, 1915. Meridian, in 1911, was his first winner. McGee sired Donerail, 1913, and Exterminator, 1916. Zev, 1923, and Flying Ebony, 1925, are sons of The Finn. The largest field that ever paraded to the post in the Derby was in 1923 when Zev conquered twenty rivals. The smallest field numbered three starters. In 1892 it consisted of Azra, Huron and Phil Dwyer. In 1899 Manuel Defeated Corsini and Mazo. In 1905 Agile had only Rams Horn and Layson to beat. Isaac Murphy, the old-time colored rider, was the only jockey that ever rode three Derby winners. He had the mount on Buchanan, 1884; Riley, 1S90 and Kingman, 1891. Willie Simms, Winkfield, Johnny Loftus, Albert Johnson and Earl Sande rode two winners. Simms had the leg up on Ben Brush, 1896, and Plaudit, 1898. Winkfields mounts were His Eminence, 1901, and Alan-a-Dale, 1902. Loftus rode George Smith, 1916, and Sir Barton, 1919. Johnsons winning mounts were Morvich, 1922, and Bubbling Over, 1926. Sande rode Zev, 1923, and Flying Ebony, 1925. It costs an owner 25 to send a horse to the post in the Derby. The nomination fee is 5 and the starting fee is 00. The Kentucky Jockey Club adds 0,000 to the stoke. The second horse receives ,000, third horse ,000 and fourth horse ,000. The winner receives the 0,000 added money plus the subscriptions and starting fees, less 0,000 second, third and fourth money. But three owners have the honor of winning the Derby twice. H. P. Whitney won in 1915 with Regret and in 1927 with Whiskery. E. R. Bradley carried away the honors in 1921 with Behave Yourself and in 1926 with Bubbling Over. On both occasions Mr. Bradley horses took second money also. Azra in 1892 and Sir Huon in 1906 carried the colors of George J. Long. There have been five winners bred at Woodburn Stud of A. J. Alexander at Spring Station, Kentucky. Five winners have been bred at J. E. Mad-dens Hamburg Place. G. J. Longs Bashford .Manor Stud in Kentucky has provided three winners, and H. P. Whitney, E. R. Bradley, Milton Young, James B. Haggin and D. Swigert have each credit for two. Kentucky has produced the majority of winners, thirty-sLx being bred in the blue grass state. New Jersey has furnished three, Tennessee three, California three, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Montana, Missouri, Ohio, New York and Oklahoma each one, with Omar Khayyam hailing from England. The Derby fields have averaged nine starters. In the fifty-three years of its history, a total of 468 horses have strived for the golden honors. ♦ — *
