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DERBY CLASSIFICATIONS ♦ Only Eleven Winners Entitled to Be Rated as Great, 1 Plenty Room for Argument in Endeavoring to Grade the Fifty-Six Successful Horses. ♦ The Kentucky Derby was not always the coveted prize it is today. There is a long stretch in its history when the highest classification one could give the winner would be a "good horse." In the early pages of its history, however, which is to say the first nine years, four great horses won, and almost as many "greats" were beaten. Leonatus, the "unbeaten" ended the first stretch of the exceptional winners and from this year 1883. down to 1889, when Spokane appeared on the scene, none of the Derby winners could be given the superlative appellation. It was six years after Spokane won that another brilliant horse appeared and won. referring to Halma, the only horse in the history of the Derby that went to the stud and sent forth a scion of his blood able to duplicate his daddys feat. It has been told often enough how Halma won and then sired Alan-a-Dale, the winner of the 1902 renewal. Only eleven winners of the Blue Grass prize can be called great. The first of these outstanding horses was Aristides, winner of the initial Derby. Fonso, Hindoo, Leonatus, Spokane, Halma. Old Rosebud, Regret, Exterminator, Bubbling Over and Reigh Count are the others. Some may dispute the statement and wish to include such horses as Zev, Black Gold, Sir Barton, Worth, Gallant Fox and one or two others, and it is their privilege to look upon them as great horses, but something appeared to be lacking in that band which made them miss by a narrow margin inclusion in the select eleven named above. Ben Brush, too, might be classed as great, but it is doubtful if much would be heard from this son of Bonnie Scotland were it not for the fact that he was the connecting link which has brought the blood of that powerful progenitor down to the present day through his sire Bramble and his son Broomstick. TEN BROECK DEFEATED. The result of the first Derby had its surprise in the defeat of the brilliant Ten Broeck, which bowed to the "little red horse" Aristides. Creedmore, which ran second to Vagrant in the second renewal, was also a brilliant horse, a "crack" of his day. Himyar, beaten by Day Star in the fourth renewal, 1878, was a horse of exceptional ability, and was one of the "great" ones that failed to win. The sparkling Falsetto, which, when sent to the stud, sired three Derby winners, was beaten by the good Lord Murphy in 1879. It took a Spokane to beat Proctor Knott in 1889, and the longer one scans the history of the Derby, the more apparent becomes the fact that many years have been prolific in regard to the number of brilliant horses racing, while others, — too many, — seem to be barren of the great. Skipping down the years brings us to 1895, when the next great winner appeared, Halma, and he took the measure of the scintillating Hanover, rated by many experts as one of the best horses that has ever appeared in American racing. One could almost say that in the Derby Ten Broeck had his Aristides, Creedmore his Vagrant, Himyar his Day Star, Falsetto his Lord Murphy, Proctor Knott his Spokane, Hanover his Halma, and so on and so forth. The time made in the past Derbys is not a true index to the ability of the horses which raced, for track and weather conditions from one year to another vary greatly. Even though the sun may be shining upon Churchill Downs this year, that does not indicate that even a "great" horse should duplicate Old Rosebuds record made in 1914, for whereas in one year there may be no wind worth speaking of, a strong breeze might be blowing up the stretch in another, impeding the horses to a perceptible degree. Nevertheless, it is a fact that two of the "great" ones, so called, are credited with the best times for the one mile and a quarter, the present distance, and the one mile and a half, the distance at which the Derby was run from its inception up to and including 1896. RECORD HOLDERS. Spokane ran one mile and a half when he won the Derby in 1889, in 2:34*i, while Old Rosebuds time for the one mile and a quarter in 1914 was 2:03%, the present Derby record. Neither Spokane or Old Rosebud is included in the list of great ones because of their time records. It was what they accomplished before and after the Derby that earned them that classification. From Halmas year to that of Old Rosebud were the barren years in Derby history. We refer, of course, to the lack of great horses starting and competing in the race. Old Rosebud was followed by Regret, and there is no one who will deny this filly the title of great. She was the only one of her sex to meet the opposite sex in battle in the Derby and emerge victorious. Many brilliant fillies have finished second or third, but only Regret was able to win. From 1914 to 1930 the winners of the Derby were all good horses with seven exceptions. Four of them were great and three only fair. The great ones were Regret. 1915, Exterminator, 1918, Bubbling Over, 1926 and Reigh Count, 1928. The Derby winners which may be called moderate and Fair are Buchanan, Chant, His Eminence, Judge Himes, Elwood, Agile, Sir Huon, Stone Street, Wintergreen, Don-erail, Paul Jones, Behave Yourself, Whiskery and Clyde Van Dusen. Those styled good include Vagrant, Baden Baden, Day Star, Lord Murphy, Joe Cotton, Ben Ali, Riley, Kingman, Ben Brush, Plaudit, Manuel, Alan-a-Dale, Pink Star, Meridian, George Smith, Omar Khayyam, Sir Barton, Morvich, Zev, Black Gold, Flying Ebony and Gallant Fox. Many may be inclined to rate the Woodward star of last year with the great ones, principally because of the immense publicity given to his racing career, but the fact stands out that while Gallant Fox was one of the really good horses of the past few years, he was not a "great" one in the true sense of the word. The fact that he never once went outside his class in his three-year-old year will always detract from his accomplishments. An article such as the above is one likely to start arguments. The word of one man is never final, but if the records of the horses chosen as "greats" are carfully analyzed and compared to those called "good" the reason for their selection will become apparent.
