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Thundering Hoofs Through the dust and mud at Churchill Downs during fiftynine years of Derby Runnings Churchill Downs derives its name from the owners of the grounds on which the famous course was built John and Henry HenryChurchill Churchill It will be news to many that thatin in addition to the auction pools sold when the first Derby was run in 1875 the pari mutuel machines were given a successful successfultryout tryout One of Kentuckys most famous famoushorses horses the immortal Ten Broeck which in the course of 1876 and 1877 furnished the racing world with the then almost unbe lieveable records of a mile in 139 two miles in 327 three miles in 526 and four miles in 71554 was unplaced in the first running of the Kentucky Derby won wonby by Aristides Hindoo and Ben Brush Brushfirst first in the Derby of 1881 and 1896 respec ¬ tively were the most successful of all Derby winners in the stud Hindoo sired Hanover while Ben Brush was the daddy of the im ¬ mortal Broomstick fame enough for both without mentioning others to their credit creditIsaac Isaac Murphy probably the greatest col ¬ ored 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 1891was was astride Kingman The late Edward EdwardCorrigan Corrigan who built and owned the Haw ¬ thorne track in Chicago won the Derby of 1890 with his great colt Riley in whose veins veinsran ran the blood of Longfellow Boundless Boundlesswinner winner of the Worlds Fair Derby at old Washington Park in Chicago finished third thirdin BillyWalker in the Kentucky Derby of 1893 Billy Walker the noted colored jockey rode Baden Baden to victory in the Derby of 1877 He was given a purse by the manage ¬ ment for being the best behaved jockey on the track Walker rode Ten Broeck in all his races against time 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 byVagrant Vagrant Old timers still maintain that thatthe the Derby of 1889 in which Spokane de ¬ feated Proctor Knott was the greatest race in the history of the event The Ken ¬ tucky Derby has always been a popular race and even in its early years attracted im ¬ mense crowds It was estimated that over 10000 witnessed the first Derby while in 1885 20000 crowded the grandstand club ¬ house and overflowed in the field The Thewonderful wonderful gelding Exterminator only be ¬ came a Derby possibility when Sun Briar went amiss preparing for the big race Ex ¬ terminator now ranks as one of the greatest of Derby winners The threeyearold racing career of Runny mede in 1882 was analagous to that of Blue Larkspur in 1929 Both were beaten favorites in the Derby but later both wiped out those defeats and became acknowledged cham ¬ pions Ornament was one of the best bestrace race horses of his day and generation both as a two and threeyearold 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 racehowever however was won by Typhoon II Omar OmarKhayyam Khayyam was the first and only imported thoroughbred to win the Derby He defeated Ticket Mirway and other good ones in 1917 1917Earle Earle Sande premier rider of modern times has a triple Derby score to his credit He rode Zev to victory in 1923 Flying Ebony Ebonyin in 1925 and Gallant Fox in 1930 The TheDerby Derby has been run at two distances since its inception in 1875 Until 1896 the distance was at one mile and a half since then at one mile and a quarter The record for the longer distance was held by Spokane which won in 1889 in the fast time of 23412 Virgil and Falsetto are the only onlysires sires whose get won three Derbys Virgils trio were Vagrant in 1876 Hindoo in 1881 and Ben AH in 1886 Falsettos three win ¬ ners were Chant in 1894 His Eminence in 1901 and Sir Huon in 1906 Chicago has sent as many as 10000 people to see the Derby Since the return of the sport in Illinois the number has been re ¬ duced considerably but a large delegation delegationis is assured for this years running Women owners have been prominent in the last ten Derbys with three winners to their credit Black Gold won for Mrs R M Hoots in 1924 Reigh Count for Mrs John Hertz in 1928 and Twenty Grand for Mrs Payne Whitney in 1931 Remember Flying Ebonys Derby He won in 1925 Gifford A Cochran had won the Preakness with Coventry and remarked that he was too lucky not to win the Derby To make it a sure thing Cochrane engaged Sande to ride Flying Ebony with the satis ¬ fying result that the New York sportsman sportsmanmade made good his boast Whose picture will join willjoin the notable gallery of Derby winners from Aristides to Brokers Tip at Churchill Downs Who will ever forget the gal ¬ lant Black Gold now at rest in the infield of the Fair Grounds at New Orleans He won the Kentucky Derby in 1924 after cap ¬ turing the Louisiana Derby Later he also added the Ohio State and Chicago Derbys to his record Four Derbys in all and three Derby trials His winnings amounted to 110503 He was the winner of eighteen races out of thirtyone starts was five times second and four times third being unplaced in four a record that speaks for his stamina and gameness Halma and Bubbling Over now share the distinction of being the only Derby winners to sire a winner of the same race Halma won the Derby in 1895 and seven years later his son AlanADale enrolled his name on the honor list Bubbling Over was victorious in 1926 and his son Burgoo King carried carriedoff off the event in 1932 It was in 1904 that 1904that 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 assecretary secretary The first appearance of the tallyho thetallyho at the Derby was in 1882 at the eighth running when Col M Lewis Clark president of the Louisville Jockey Club rode to the track with a number of his guests Sir Barton and Brokers Tip are the theonly only Derby winners which won the race as maidens Sir Barton and Gallant Fox share the honor of winning both the Ken ¬ tucky Derby and Preakness At the Derby of 1883 Colonel Clark with characteristic generosity threw the inner field open to the public and 5000 men women and children white and black thronged there to see Leonatus carry off the thegreat great race Man o War did not start in inthe VanDusen the Kentucky Derby but his son Clyde Van Dusen won the race in 1929 The grey greycolt colt Enlister ran a wonderful race in the first Derby though the racing guides tell no story of his brilliant performance He was one of those starting in the rear divi ¬ sion and after meeting with much hard luck finished lapped on the three placed horses The record for breeding Derby winners is held by the Woodburn Stud of A J Alex ¬ ander and the Hamburg Stud of J E Mad ¬ den Each had five winners E R Bradley has four while the Bashford Manor Stud of G J Long furnished three winners and H P Whitney Milton Young James B Haggin D Swigert and W S Kilmer two twoeach each The smallest price laid against a aDerby Derby winner was 1 to 3 both on Hindoo in 1881 and Agile in 1905 In the 1928 1928Derby Derby was the imported horse Strolling Player which was purchased in England at a cost of 60000 but he failed to be one of the contenders when the crucial test
