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4 Famed Derby Ever a breeders Kace Has Made Gigantic Imprint In Bloodstock Industry Here Winners as Well as Those 1 ♦ I Failing to Earn Laureate Have Influenced Bloodlines By NELSON DUNSTAN CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 4. — Kentuckys famed Derby, which will be run for the seventy-seventh time tomorrow, has ebbed and flowed in the quality of its winners and also in the contributions it has made to the breeding ; structure in this country. Through the years since 1875, it has been won by some horses who soon passed into oblivion, but | other horses scaled the heights and left their imprint on the breed. In the first ; 10 years, when the Derby was just another - horse race, there were three starters whose feats on the racecourse and later in production earned them immortality. They r were Himyar, who was second to Day Star • in 1878; Falsetto, second to Lord Murphy in 1879, and Hindoo, winner of the renewal 1 of 1881. Himyar. whose defeat is still regarded 1 as the most stunning upset in Derby history, • was the son of Alarm, the champion miler of his day and said to be the first ; horse ever to run eight furlongs under 1 :40. . Alarms get resembled him in their aversion i to racing over a distance of ground, with i the one exception of Himyar. The latter r was at home up to two miles, and when i retired became the head of the greatest t family of speed horses ever developed in i this country. His best son was "The Black c Whirlwind," Domino, who, under the colors s of James R. Keene, was a speed marvel, as 5 The Tetrarch was in England. Both countries - have claimed Domino or The Tetrarch i as "the fastest horse that ever lived." Suffice - it to say here, Domino established a i great speed line in this country. When Falsetto was retired from racing, :, he became one of the stallions at the e 1 ♦ ; | ; - r • 1 1 • ; . i i r i t i c s 5 - i - a i :, e Woodburn Farm of the famed Alexander family, who pioneered in breeding the American thoroughbred. The famous Lexington, who was called "The Blind Hero," stood there for many years and among those who followed him, besides Falsetto, were Australian, Planet, King Alfonso, Lisbon, Asteroid and Glen Athol. Australian sired the Kentucky Derby winner, Baden Baden, 1877; King Alfonso was the daddy of Fonso. 1880, and Joe Cotton, 1885, but Falsetto outdid them by siring the three winners, Chant, 1894; His Emminence, 1901, and Sir Huon, 1906. Falsetto Sire of Foxhall While he never led the sire list, Falsetto was a name to conjure with in his years. Probably his greatest achievement was be-! getting Foxhall, the horse who was sent to England by James R. Keene to win the Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire, Grand Prix de Paris and the Ascot Gold Cup, which many consider the "Number One" race of the world. It was little short of remarkable that two horses who ran second in two successive Derby renewals should be so highly re-i garded as stallions. Hindoo, the Derby winner in 1881, added richly to the success of those early Derby contestants. Many claim to this day, regardless of Man o War and others, that Hindoo was the greatest horse ever to race in this country. Whether this is so or not is not within the province of this story. But his record bears out that he was one of the best, regardless of period, for he won 30 of his 35 starts and was never out of the money. Retired to stud, Hindoo was acclaimed by the breeding industry. He was mated with Bourbon Belle, a daughter of Bonnie Scotland, and the result was Hanover, one of the most beautiful colts of all time and certainly one of the great race horses of his day. In succession, Hanover won 14 of the most valuable stakes in the metropolitan CITATION— 1948 winner and worlds leading money gleaner is expected to enter the stud soon. ■ area. Hanover was a name horse, in all , that the word implies and when he was 5 sent to stud, his career was a triumph. He e was the leading sire of this country from j 1895 to 1898 inclusive. Sadly enough, he was the first "nerved" horse in this country and that operation was one of the e causes of his death. Hamburg Best Son of Hanover Hanover was the sire of Halma, winner of the Derby in 1895, but, undoubtedly, his s best son was Hamburg, a horse who won a 16 of his 21 starts and was never out of the money. Hamburg had no such record as s his sire in stud, but he did lead the list in n 1905. One of his best sons was Burgomaster, while his filly, Hamburg Belle, was s a winner of the Futurity and so, too, was Artful, who defeated Sysonby and is today y 4 ■ , 5 e j e s a s in n s y rated as one of the best of her sex ever i to step on a track in this country. Had the early years of the Kentucky j Deby sent only Himyar, Falsetto and Hindoo to the farms, the contribution of that one race to the breeding world would j have been tremendous in itself. Had Him- ; yar begot only Domino, he would have : made breeding history. "The Black Whirlwind" established the Domino line, which was to become one of the three great American lines, the others being Ben Brush and Fair Play. Before the turn of the century, Ben Brush himself came into the picture. He had npthing to brag about in pedigree and, in those days, he was termed "the little goat." just as today the breeding of Uncle Miltie is decreed as unfashionable. That , did not stop Ben Brush. He was the best two-year-old of his year and in all he won 25 of his 40 starts. Out of a nondescript mare, he was unimpressive in appearance, but even so became an immediate success when sent to stud at historic Castleton, another of the great breeding farms in Kentucky. Ascendency of Ben Brush Line Among others, Ben Brush was the sire of Delhi, Pebbles and that outstanding pair, Sweep and Broomstick, who carried on the line of Bonnie Scotland, that was later to become the Ben Brush line in this country. Sweep was the premier sire in 1918 and 1925 and led the broodmare sire list in 1937. Two of his daughters were Brush Up, the dam of War Admiral, and Dustwhirl, the dam of Whirlaway. Broomstick was the leading sire in 1914, 1915 and 1916. The second quarter-century of Derby history in no way compares with the first quarter. From 1903 to 1910, racing de-e generated throughout the United States. Repressive legislation wiped out two of our greatest racing centers. The crisis came in 1908. By 1912, the havoc was complete, with only Kentucky and Maryland tracks maintaining a precarious exist-r ence. Breeding was at the lowest ebb of all time. Values were obliterated and there was no market for the thoroughbred. Hun-e dreds of horses were shipped to Europe or South America. Derby winers came and went quickly into oblivion. Five mediocre horses answered the Derby bugle in 1904 and only three went post-s ward in 1905. That was the period in which Continued on Page Forty-Four Kentucky Derby Classified Breeders Race From Start Winners as Well as Those Failing to Earn Laureate Have Influenced Bloodlines Continued from Paoe Twenty-One class or quality meant little to the owners and they were not wasting their horses by shipping them to Kentucky for a race which would have cost them far more in expenses than the Derby purses. From 1900 to 1915, the winners of the Kentucky Derby played very little part in the breeding of this country. Kentucky Classic Regains Prestige At that time it became a question of beginning all over again. From 1916 on, the Derby slowly gained prestige. In 1921, Behave Yourself defeated Black Servant, but the latter was the sire of many good ones, including Blue Larkspur, one of the best of his time. Then came Morvich, Zev, Flying Ebony, Bubbling Over and Whiskery. Bubbling Over was the best of that group in stud. A horse of real beauty and tremendous speed, he sent many good ones to the races, including Burgoo King, winner of the Derby in 1932. His daughter, Baby League, was the producer of Busher and Mr. Busher. It was Bubbling Over, in this writers opinion, who started the Derby again as a three-year-old event that was to point out many sires of the future. By 1928 the Kentucky Derby had passed the 0,000 mark in value to the winner, and firmly took its place as one of the most colorful horse races in the world. The quality of the competitors was of a much higher degree. In 1928, Mrs. John Hertz Reigh Count was the winner, and like Exterminator, he went on to become one of the foremost cup horses of this country. He was shipped to England to win the Coronation Plate and finished second to Invershin in the Ascot Gold Cup of 1929. He was the sire of Lady Reigh, winner of the Coaching Club American Oaks, and others, but his greatest youngster by far was Count Fleet, winner of the "Triple Crown" in 1943 and since that year a success in stud. Man o War Makes His Mark In the early years, Himyar sired Domino and Ben Brush had won fame for himself. The Fair Play clan had been more prominent in the Belmont Stakes than it had in the Derby. Man o War, the son of Fair Play, did not start in the Derby but his name was listed on the sire roster when his gelded son, Clyde Van Dusen, was the winner in 1929. Eight years later, when "Big Red" was an acknowledged champion sire of the country, he sent War Admiral to score for him again. War Admiral was regarded as the best son of the Riddle champion and, if he did not prove that on the race course, he left no doubt of it in the breeding sheds. With War Relic, it appears as if he will carry on for his daddy for his get includes War Jeep, War Date, Cable, Blue Peter, Bee Mac, Busher and many others. With War Admiral, the three famous American lines of Domino, Ben Brush and Fair Play added to the countrys most colorful horse race. During the past quarter century, the Derby sire list has taken on a very different complexion due to the fact that American breeders have been busy buyers of noted stallions in England, Ireland, France and other countries. It was only natural that, in time, the progeny of these importations would make their appearance in the winners circle at Churchill Downs. Sir Gallahad m. is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, horse brought to our shores since Leamington, and in 1930 his son, Gallant Fox, became his first Derby winner. Gallahadion and Hoop, Jr., were to follow in later years. That became a period of "winners-by-winners." Omaha Duplicates Sires Feat In 1935, Omaha, the son of Gallant Fox, duplicated his daddys feat by joining the small list of "Triple Crown winners. Insco, another son of Sir Gallahad in., sired Lawrin, winner in 1938. Since the victory of Gallant Fox, many of those who won and others who ran second or third have sent out hundreds of winners of important events and it would require books to tell the full story. That imported stallions are making deeper inroads into the breeding structure of this country is amply demon-started by the records. St. Germans was imported by John Hay Whitney and sired one of the best horses of his day in Twenty Grand, the Derby winner in 1931. The English sire, Lance-gaye, joined the roster when Cavalcade defeated Discovery in 1934. St. Germans came back into the picture when Bold Venture defeated Brevity in 1936. After Gallahadion won in 1940 for Sir Gallahad in., the imported Blenheim II. came into the picture in 1941 with Whirlaway, who, like Gallant Fox, Omaha and War Ad- UH1. fa! to Join the "IWple Drown JlsI. In 1944 the great English stallion, Hyperion, was recorded as a Derby sire with the victory of Pensive. Since Pensive scored for Hyperion, six Derby renewals have been run and they all attest the influence of sires who were imported, or their sons who are carrying on for them. In 1945, it was Hoop, Jr., by Sir Gallahad HI., 1946, Assault, by Bold Venture: 1947, Jet Pilot, by Blenheim n.; 1948, Citation, by Bull Lea, a son of the imported Bull Dog; 1949, Ponder, by Pensive, and last year, a new page of Derby history was written when Middleground scored over Hill Prince and, for the first time in Derby history, Bold Venture, a horse who had won the Derby himself, was credited with two winners, Assault and Middleground. When we consider that since 1930 such horses as Head Play, Discovery, Roman Soldier, Pompoon, Dauber, Challedon, Bimelech, Alsab and others ran second, while Reaping Reward, Heather Broom, Market Wise, Valdina Orphan, Slide Rule, and other good ones ran third, we get a more complete picture of what the Derby means as a "breeders race" in this country. Jet Pilot, winner in 1947, is already making his presence felt in stud and time will tell what Citation, Ponder and Middle-ground will add to the records.
