Today is Derby Day in Louisville and the thirty-first running of the
Kentucky Derby was won by Capt. S. S. Brown's Agile, with Ram's Horn in
second place and Layson third. The attendance was the largest in the
history of the famous track and the twenty thousand people who stood and
watched the race looked like a solid mass of humanity. At 1 o'clock the
track was a sea of mud, but after an hour's working it had dried out
considerably and was in fair condition when the bugle called the Derby
candidates to the post.
The crowd waited patiently for the Derby, which was the fourth race on the
card and at 15 minutes past 4 o'clock the three colts passed from the
paddock out into the broad, heavy path. A cheer that is almost a roar goes
up from the crowd. The parade takes but a few minutes and they passed on
up to the turn, where Starter Dwyer gives the boys a few words of
instructions and almost before the crowd has had time to realize it,
they're off to a beautiful start, and here they come on the trip that
means so much to the admirers of both star performers.
Jockey Martin has his orders regarding Agile, and obeying these
instructions to the letter, he starts out to show Ram's Horn a merry time,
because it is a well-known fact that the son of Bute is unable to do
himself justice in the mud. They pass the stand with Agile a length in
front, while Jockey Lyne, on Ram's Horn, is trying to rate his colt and
keep him within striking distance of the leader. Even at this early point
in the race Layson is hopelessly beaten and even to the most
inexperienced, he is merely running for the money that goes to the third
horse. The cherry jacket and blue cap which is on Agile's back bobs up and
down like a cork in a choppy sea. The black silk on Ram's Horn's back
moves through space with very little motion. A long roar like the snarl of
a multitude of bulldogs comes from the stand and spreads itself over the
crowd in the infield and reverberates from the whitewashed barns on the
other side of the beautiful course. This is the cry of the people from the
Blue Grass land, friends of Ram's Horn, the poor man's horse. The real
race has only begun.
As they round the first turn, Martin lets out a wrap and Agile shoots
forward like an arrow from a bow. Ram's Horn is too close for comfort,
and the boy has orders to keep the lead. Then they turn into the back
stretch, and here Ram's Horn runs his race. With whip and spur and with
his knees digging into the satiny sides of Ram's Horn, Jockey Lyne asked
the question of the son of Bute. Instantly the game colt responds, and
before the half-mile pole is reached Ram's Horn has cut the lead down to
one length and his nose is very close to Agile's tail.
The positions do not change for a quarter of a mile. Then the favorite
gradually begins to move away from Rams Horn in spite of the vigorous
efforts of Lyne. But its no use--the track is muddy and sticky and
slippery, and this son of one of the best stallions any American ever
brought to this country from England is unused to the going and does not
like it. And so they turn into the home stretch, with Agile two lengths in
front and galloping with his mouth wide open, while Ram's Horn is laboring
many lengths in front of Layson.
The shouting and the tumult die and Martin, realizing that his victory is
now assured, eases his mount to an ordinary gallop, while Lyne, on Ram's
Horn, also refuses to drive Jim Williams' colt, because he knows the case
is hopeless. They pass under the wire in a straggling procession, with
little excitement or applause. The time, 2:10-1/2, shows the condition of
the track.