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Kentucky Derby Reminiscences t ! In imate Recollections of the Great Race, Horses, Riders, Trainers and Incidents in Connection ; With Its Running ; I : : ■ [ j I i | j I j : i i I : j ; j I i ! I I I I j [ | : The Kentucky Derby of 1879 marked the defeat of the brilliant race horse Falsetto, the greatest son of Enquirer. Previous to his start in the Churchill Downs classic, Falsetto had won his first race as a three-year-old, scoring in the Phoenix Hotel Stakes at Lexington on the occasion of his first appearance under colors, as he was not raced as a two-year-old. Lord Murphy beat Falsetto in the Derby by a narrow margin. Later Falsetto won the Clark Stakes and then was taken to Saratoga where in both the Travers and Kenner stakes he defeated the mighty Spendthrift. He was purchased by Pierre Lorillard and sent to England but never raced, for he broke down the follow-. ing year. After being returned to this country Falsetto entered the stud and sited many notable horses, including The Picket, winner of the American Derby, and Sir Huon, winner of both the Kentucky and Latonia Derbys. Falsetto sired three Kentucky Derby winners: Chant, in 1894; His Eminence, in 1901, and Sir Huon. in 1906. Jockeys who rode winners of the Derby, now prominent as trainers, include Vincent Powers, W. Knapp, Joe Notter, John Loftus and Roscoe Goose. It was in 1908 that Vin-! cent Powers rode Wintergreen to victory; Goose was on Worth in 1912, Joe Notter on Regret in 1915, and John Loftus on George Smith in 1916. One of Kentuckys most famous horses, the immortal Ten Broeck, which in the course of 1876 and 1877 furnished the racing world with the then almost unbelievable rec- jords of a mile in 1:39%, two miles in 3:272, three miles in 5:264, and four miles in 7:15%, was unplaced in the first running of the Kentucky Derby, won by Aristides. It will be news to many that in addition to the auction pools sold when the first Derby was run in 1875, the pari-mutuel raa- chines were given a successful tryout. The Kentucky Derby has always been a popular race, and even in its early years attracted immense crowds. It was estimated that over 10,000 witnessed the first Derby, while in 1885, 20,000 crowded the grandstand, club house and overflowed in the field. The first appearance of the tallyho at the Derby was in 1882, at the eighth run-I ning, when Col. M. Lewis Clark, president of the Louisville Jockey Club, rode to the track with a number of his guests. At the Derby of 1883 Colonel Clark, with characteristic generosity, threw the inner field open to the public, and 5,000 men, women and children, white and black, thronged there to see Leonatus carry off the great race. Man o War did not start in the Kentucky Derby, but his son, Clyde Van Dusen, won the race in 1929. The gray colt Enlister ran a wonderful race in the first Derby, though the racing i I guides tell no story of his brilliant performance. He was one of those starting in the ; rtmr division and, after meeting with much | hard luck, finished lapped on the three j j placed horses. I In recent years as many as 150 airplanes, j I carrying nearly 500 passengers, have added I a new and novel means of transportation to the big race. One of the best Derby fields of modern ; j times was that of 1928, considered on a basis of what Reigh Count, Misstep, Toro, j Sun Beau, Distraction, Petee-Wrack and j Sortie accomplished throughout their racing careers. Prudery, which died in 1930, was the last filly to finish in the money in the Derby. She started in 1921, the year Behave Your- | self won, and finished third. Ornament was one of the best race horses of his day "and generation, both as a two- ] j and three-year-old. He was the natural winter book favorite for the Derby of 1897, and on the day of the race went to the post an even money choice. The race, however, was won by Typhoon II. Omar Khayyam was the first and only imported thoroughbred to win the Derby. He defeat Ticket, Midway and other good ones in 1917. Sir Barton was the only maiden to score a Kentucky Derby victory and likewise was the only horse to win both the Derby and Preakness until Gallant Fox duplicated the latter feat. Only one Kentucky Derby winner has ever sired a winner of the event. Halma won in 1895 and seven years later his son Alan-a- dale followed in the footsteps of his daddy j and enrolled his name on the honor roll. The Derby has been run at two distances 1 since its inception in 1875. Until 1896 the i I ; | j j I j I I ; j j j | ] j distance was at one mile and a half, since then at one mile and a quarter. The tecord for the longer distance was held by Spokane, which won in 1889 in the fast time of 2:34 1-2. Virgil and Falsetto are the only sires whose get won three Derbys. Virgils trio were Vagrant in 1876, Hindoo in 1881 and Ben Ali in 1886. Falsettos three winners were Chant in 1894, His Eminence in 1901 and Sir Huon in 1906. The three-year-old racing career of Runny-mede in 1882 was nalagous to that of Blue Larkspur in 1929, both were beaten favorites in the Derby, but later both wiped out those defeats and became acknowledge champions. The record for breeding Derby winners is held by the Woodburn Stud, of A. J. Alexander, and the Hamburg Stud, of J. E. Madden. Each had five winners. The Bashford Manor Stud, of G. J. Long, furnished three winners and H. P. Whitney. E. K. Bradley. Milton Young, James B. Haggin, D. Swigert and W. S. Kilmer two each. The smallest price laid against a Derby winner was 1 to 3, both on Hindoo in 1881 and Agile in 1905. In the 1928 Derby was the imported horse Strolling Player, which was purchased in England at a cost of 0,000, but he failed to be one of the contenders when the curcial test came. Hindoo and Ben Brush, first in the Derby of 1881 and 1896, respectively, were the most successful of all Derby winners in the stud. Hindoo sired Hanover, while Ben Brush was the daddy of the immortal Broomstick, fame enough for both without mentioning others to their credit. Isaac Murphy, probably the greatest colored rider of all times, won the Derby three times. His first victory was on Buchanan in 1884. Six years later, in 1890, he scored on Riley, and in the following year, 1891, was astride Kingman. Earl Sande, premier rider of modern times, has a triple Derby score to his credit. He rode Zev to victory in 1923, Flying Ebony in 1925 and Gallant Fox in 1930. Old timers still maintain that the Derby of 1889, in which Spokane defeated Proctor Knott, was the greatest race in the history of the event. The wonderful gelding Exterminator only became a Derby possibility when Sun Briar went amiss preparing for the big race. Exterminator now ranks as one of the greatest of Derby winners. Churchill Downs, home of the Derby, was named after the owners of the ground on which the course was built, John and Henry Churchill. It was in 1904 that Charles F. Price resigned as manager and secretary of the new Louisville Jockey Club and was succeeded by Col. Matt J. Winn as manager and Lyman H. Davis as secretary. Ten Broeck was not the only one of the great horses of the early days which was beaten in the Kentucky Derby, the marve- lous Parole suffering defeat and finishing unplaced in the second running, won by Vagrant. Billy Walker, the noted colored jockey, rode Baden Baden to victory in the Derby of 1877. He was given a purse by the man- agement for being the best behaved jockey on the track. Walker rode Ten Broeck in all his races against time. The late Edward Corrigan, who built and owned the Hawthorne track in Chicago, won the Derby of 1890 with his great colt, Riley, in whose veins ran the blood of Longfellow. Boundless, winner of the Worlds Fair Derby at old Washington Park in Chicago, finished third in the Kentucky Derby of 1893.
