I. Murphys Derby Record: Famous Colored Rider Scored in Five Latonia Derbys, Daily Racing Form, 1931-06-12

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: » t i I I I i i • , I I I ! j I I ■ ! I i i j 1 I. MURPHYS DERBY RECORD » i Famous Colored Rider Scored ig Five Latonia Derby s. ♦ Bode Leonatus to Triumph In Inaugural of Milldale Feature— Race to Be Renewed June 27. o LATONIA, Ky., June 11.— When Earl Sande drove Gallant Fox to his 1930 Ken-r tucky Derby victory he equaled the record of the negro rider, Isaac Murphy, by piloting three Kentucky Derby winners, but it will be a long time, if ever, that the mark the dusky jockey holds for the Latonia Derby, feature of the opening of the thirty-one-day Latonia meeting Saturday, June 27, is equaled. Murphy rode five Latonia Derby winners and three of the triumphs were consecutive. The Latonia race, the only one to be decided at the Derby route of one mile and a half, is rich in tradition. Los Angeles and White ran a dead heat in 1888 and after running the mile and a half in 2:39 1-2, Los Angeles came back in the runoff to cover the distance in 2:391-4 to earn the decision. Those were the days before the change in watches, and the timers now used on the harness horse circuit. Lieut. Gibson had a walkover in 1900, while in three different renewals there were but two to face the bar« rier. Newton had only Ronald to beat In 1892; Han dOr proved the superior of Plaudit in 1898 and Sir Huon took the measure of Charlie Ellisons Lady Navarre in 1906. Ellison, who recently died in Chicago, had great hopes of his filly winning and wagered heavily on her chance, but Pete Coyne had Sir Huon in the samt condition that saw him winner of the Kentucky Derby a few weeks before. Murphy was not astride Leonatus when Chinn and Morgans colt won the Kentucky Derby in 1883, but he substituted for Willie Donohue when Leonatus again met Drake Carter in the Inaugural of the Latonia Derby. Murphy was third with Buchanan after winning the Kentucky Derby the following year. He came back with Berzan in 1885, Silver Cloud in 1886 and Libretto in 1887. Berzan had finished second to Joe Cotton in the Kentucky Derby and was held at a short price when he defeated Lepanto and Lord Coleridge. After winning the 1890 Kentucky Derby with Riley, the best the negro jockey could do in the Latonia fixture was second to Bill Letcher, but he was astride Kingman in 1891. The son of imported Glengarry carried 128 pounds and completed a double in the Kentucky and Latonia Derbys. That was his last winner in either the Kentucky or Latonia Derbys, but he left a record at Louisville, which lasted for thirty-nine years, and one at Latonia that probably no other jockey will come near equaling. Of the present day riders Earl Pool is the only one that has a double to his credit. He was astride Thibodaux in 1922 and Handy Mandy five years later. Pool is getting along in years and it seems hardly likely that he will reach the mark made by the son of a slave. When Handy Mandy covered the Derby distance in 2:28% in 1927 she set a track record that probably will remain for some time, although there is a possibility in the event Twenty Grand comes here for his engagement that the record will be lowered. «


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1930s/drf1931061201/drf1931061201_17_6
Local Identifier: drf1931061201_17_6
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800