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It is well known to racing fans the country over that the KentuckyDerby was estab ¬ lished in 1875 and has been run continuously each year since that memorable day when the now famous Churchill Downs race track was opened to the public Col M Lewis Clark was the founder of the track and the Derby while Col Matt J Winn is the man responsible for making the race the out outtanding tanding turf event in America The Thefirst first winner of the Derby was Aristides still deferred to as the Little Tried Horse Col Matt Winn has witnessed every everyrunning running of the Derby The first race raceever ever run at Churchill Downs the day of the first Derby on Saturday May 17 1875 was won at a mile and a quarter and won by Bonaventure ridden by Billy Lakeland Charles P Price presiding steward on Kentucky tracks for many years has played an important part in the history of Churchill Downs and the Derby He suc ¬ ceeded Maj B G Bruce as secretary in 1892 and filled that office during the re ¬ maining existence of the old club In 1894 the New Louisville Jockey Club was organized with Charles Price as secretary and he also was associate judge with Colonel Clark presidiu Upon the death of Colonel Clark in 1S9 Charles Price suc ¬ ceeded him as presiding judge In 1904 judge Price resigned as secretary and man ¬ ager and was succeeded by Colonel Winn 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 famoushorses One of Kentuckys most famous horses the immortal Ten Broeck which in the course of 1876 and 1877 furnished tha 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 715 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 creditTen 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 byVagrant unplaced in the second running won by 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 alvays 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 winnersThe The threeyearbid 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 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 1H91 1H91was 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 The record for breeding Derby winners ia 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 Estimates of the attendance figures at Churchill Downs have reached as high as 75000 but probably around 50000 would be a more correct one for the largest at ¬ tendance The largest mutuel handle on Derby day was in 1926 when 2096000 passfed through the machines Only 745603 was handled in 1933 but that is a small fortune compared to the wagering on some someof of the earlier days of the famous race The highest price paid on a Derby winner was 9145 for 1 against Dorierail in 1913 Stone Street paid 6080 for 1 in 1908 The last real long shot was Zev in 1923 when that great horse scored at 1920 for 1 Zev had been the winter book favorite for the race but a decidedly poor showing in the Preakness sent his odds soaring sky ¬ ward The largest number of starters in the Derby was twentytwo in 1928 when Reigh ReighCount Count won over a heavy track The Thesmallest smallest number of starters was three sev ¬ eral times in the early days of the race The track for the Derby has been fast thirtytwo times good ten slow four heavy heavyeight eight muddy four and sloppy orie The Thelargest largest net value was in 1928 Reigh Counts year 55375 second largest 53950 in 1929 1929Clyde Clyde Van Dusen the winner From 1922 1922to to 1933 inclusive the net value has exceeded 50000 each year except in 1931 and 1933 It was 48725 in 1931 and 48925 last year Earle 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 The TheDerby Derby has been run at two distances since its inception in 1875 Until 1896rthe 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 1876j Hindotf in 1881 and Ben AH in 1886 Falsettos three win ¬ ners were Chant in 1894 His Eminence in 1901 and Sir Huon in 1906 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 willjoin join the notable gallery of Derby winners from Aristides to Brokers Tip at Churchill Downs Who will the i ever forget 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 ie also added the Ohio State and Ghicag6 Derbys to his record Four Derbys in al 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 staminaand and gameness I Halma and Bubbling Over now share the I 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 1904that 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 assecretary secretary The first appearance of the thetallyho tallyho 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 PreaknessChicago 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 delegationis considerably but a large delegation 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 Twenty Grand for Mrs Payne Whitney in 1931 and Cavalcade for Mrs Isabel Dodge Sloane in 1934
