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GREAT DERBY WINNERS ♦ Outstanding Horses Victorious in Americas Most Coveted Race. ♦ Ever Growing List of Superb Creatures of Thoroughbred World on Kentuckys Honor Roll. t It is inevitable that the flight of time witnesses the growth of the roster of Kentucky Derby winners who were great horses. Recent years have seen the list grow longer and become further illuminated with the names of such brilliant warriors of the turf as the unfortunate Twenty Grand, Gallant Fox and the internationally famous Reigh Count. These three great thoroughbreds of recent years join the illustrious winners whose names were Hindoo, Leonatus, Spokane, Riley, Halma, Ben Brush, Lieut. Gibson, Sir Huon, Old Rosebud, Regret, Omar Khayyam, Sir Barton, Exterminator, Zev and, it is said hesitatingly but with conviction, Morvich. Thoroughbreds all, and better still, great horses, every one deserving the appellation great, for they could and did do all things well, sprint, stay or race with success over the intermediate distances in which great horses and great sprinters meet almost on a level. Bubbling Over could be added to the roll of honor. So could Black Gold and few would dispute their claim to inclusion in the select list; but one had a career meteoric but all too short, and the other was close to a great horse but somehow did not quite reach the standard set. Sentiment probably more than anything else would prompt admirers of Black Gold to include him in the list, a sentiment engendered because of his tragic end, but then has not the Derby always been a race which tragedy stalks, too vividly illustrated by the injury to Burning Blaze a few short days before the race and further emphasized by the defeat of the famous filly Top Flight after she had ruled the future book favorite from its opening to within seven days of Derby day. HINDOO A STANDOUT. Hindoo was one of the greatest of the great that won the Derby. He scored his victory as long ago as 1881, but even today his name is frequently mentioned by turf followers when they wish to emphasize the speed of some horse when they say: "He is a regular Hindoo." Ben Brush, small but mighty, will never be forgotten for he was the sire of the great Broomstick, and the connecting link to the potent Bonnie Scotland, whose blood, flowing through his modern descendants, made the name of Whitney one to conjure with on the turf. Leonatus, owned by Jack Chinn, romped to an easy victory in the ninth renewal of the Derby, and while the race set the seal on his greatness, he had already earned undying fame. Old Rosebud, swaybacked but great, and just how great nobody will ever know, for he was never a sound horse, and came back from retirement twice to astonish the turf world by his deeds, achieved in a manner reserved only for the mighty. Regret, the only one of her sex to ever win, Omar Khayyam, the only foreign-bred winner, Exterminator, or "Old Bones," as he was affectionately known, Zev, Reigh Count, Gallant Fox, Twenty Grand and then? Nineteen hundred and thirty-two does not appear to be a year in which the roster of the great will be extended. Not unless Tick On, Stepenfetchit, Brother Joe, Burgoo King, Universe, Economic, Liberty Limited or other probable starter has been hiding his light under a bushel somewhat after the fashion of Exterminator. It might be remembered that Gallant Fox was not the outstanding juvenile of his year, and neither was Twenty Grand, for prior to the running of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes late in the fall, Equipoise had occupied the limelight as a two-year-old. Turf history carries the name of Exterminator as one of the greatest geldings ever raced in America. Regret occupies her own niche among her sex and Hindoo, sired the Continued on eighth page.y GREAT DERBY WINNERS Continued from first page. immortal Hanover, to add additional luster to his shield. Riley, winner of 1890, confounded the turf world when he defeated the highly regarded Robespierre, which the bookmakers thought "could not lose the Derby." Lose it he did and in very easy fashion, for Riley was a great horse. Halma was a son of Hanover, the latter, as stated above, a son of Hindoo. Halma was a great horse and he holds a unique honor to this day, that of having sired Alan-a-Dale, a winner of the Derby after having won it himself. Halma, besides being great, was a beautiful horse. In appearance he was similar to Chilhowee, but his head gave more assurance of determination than the speedy Chilhowees. Omar Khayyam, winner of the 1917 Derby, was a bargain horse. He was purchased for Billings and Johnson for ,500 and in the Derby defeated as formidable a horse as Cudgel. Omar Khayyam was bred in England by Sir John Johnson. After his Derby victory he raced to stilt greater fame, defeating the best in America in the rich stake races. Zev was one of the greatest of American horses. For seven long years he was the worlds greatest money winning horse until another great Kentucky Derby winner, Gallant Fox, exceeded his deeds and his winnings by making almost a clean sweep of the great three-year-old prizes of 1930. How are we to measure the greatness of Reigh Count? It is a difficult task because this sensational son of Sunreigh, after conquering the American horses of all ages, went to England and there, after several heart-breaking defeats due to the unfamili-arity of his rider with English racing conditions and his own early difficulties in adjusting himself to rolling, grass-covered courses, finally found himself and added a new star to the American turf firmament by winning the Coronation Cup and finishing second in the Ascot Gold Cup. He would probably have won the last named race also had the same rider been in the saddle that piloted him to victory in the Coronation Cup. The last great Kentucky Derby winner was Twenty Grand. That is to say, the last on record. Today he is in the stud because of an injured tendon. His possibilities were unlimited and his potentialties just as great Will 1932 see the list of greats grow? "Quien sabe," as the Mexicans say. Who knows?
