Derby followers awoke this morning to find that, with a cloudless sky
smiling above, the elements had looked upon the day with favor, it being
an ideal day for racing. A warm sun dissipated the moisture of two
preceding days and also assisted extensively in putting the course in good
shape.
It was just a few minutes after 5 o'clock when the Derby entrants, after
having been cantered past the grandstand and clubhouse veranda, approached
the starting point a quarter of a mile above the judges' stand. Old Ben,
which had the inside position at the start, was the first to slip under
the barrier and wheel about facing it. Then came Watermelon, John Gund,
Bronzewing, Surprising, Old Rosebud and Hodge in the order named.
At the post less than two minutes the seven entrants in the Derby were off
like a shot. For the fraction of a second they ran in perfect alignment,
the start having been an ideal one. Then Old Rosebud began moving into the
lead. Hodge, a bit slower than his rival, was quickest of the others,
however, and closed in immediately behind the leader. Bronzewing was last
of the seven to get going, and at the end of the first quarter was last by
five lengths.
As the eyes of those stationed at the starting point followed the racers
in their swift circling of the track they saw Old Rosebud gradually
increasing the lead assumed by him during the first quarter of the
journey.
Rounding the turn into the stretch Old Rosebud was in the lead by two
lengths, Hodge was second by four lengths and John Gund was third by half
a length. Surprising was a head in advance of Old Ben, and the latter was
a length and a half in advance of Bronzewing, which was running like a
wild horse. As the band of racers passed into the stretch, McCabe called
on Old Rosebud for an extra effort, and he responded in a manner that
opened the oldest turfman's eyes in wonder and amazement, for he sprinted
away from his opposition as if they were standing still to win easily by
eight lengths in the remarkable time of 2:03-2/5, a record for the
distance here, and making the performance stand out the more in view of
the fact that the track was far from being in its best shape. Hodge
finished second by a length and a half. Bronzewing closed up the space
separating her from John Gund, Surprising and Old Ben, passing the three
and dropping into third position four lengths behind Hodge.
The ride which Old Rosebud received was second only to his own great
courage. Jockey McCabe, a midget whose head and hands are busy under all
conditions, rode a wonderful race. Coming through the stretch he was
working in perfect unison with his mount. McCabe was restraining the
high-strung gelding, and at the same time looking back into the rut of
blasted hopes where Hodge, Bronzewing and other stars of the turf
struggled toward the wire.
Old Rosebud seemed to realize the importance of the occasion. He had given
his best efforts and won. Except for flecks of foam and sweat upon his
arching neck, he seemed as though he had just come out of the barn for a
workout. He was the leading money-winner on the turf in 1913, and bids
fair to hold his record again in 1914.
Governor McCreary, who had witnessed the Derby running as the guest of the
stewards, presented Jockey McCabe with the huge bouquet of American
Beauty roses and also tendered his congratulations to Messrs. Weir and
Applegate, the joint owners of the winner.
Old Rosebud, the winner, was bred by J. E. Madden at Hamburg Place. His
sire, Uncle, was bred by Col. E. F. Clay and his breeding partner, Catesby
Woodford, in Bourbon County, and his dam, Ivory Bells, was bred by E. S.
Gardner at Avondale Stud, in Tennessee. She is by Himyar, the sire of
Domino, and out of the wonderful race mare Ida Pickwick, by Mr. Pickwick.
The latter horse is a son of the English Derby winner Hermit. The next dam
was Ida K., by King Alfonso, she being the dam of Indigo, that produced
the Suburban Handicap winner, Go Between.
Old Rosebud was purchased, along with four yearling fillies, in the season
of 1912, by H. C. Applegate & Co., for $3,000. He won his first race, the
Yucatan Stakes, at Juarez, Mexico, in the winter of 1913, and also won
another race at that track before being brought to Kentucky last spring.
Little Nephew, also by Uncle, is the only horse that ever beat Old Rosebud
in a race.
Last year the Derby winner won twelve of his fourteen starts. He ran three
most remarkable races as a two-year old at Douglas Park, first winning at
five furlongs in 0:58-4/5, again in 0:58-3/5 and again 0:58-2/5. In all of
these races he beat his old rival, Little Nephew. He has only started once
before this season, that being a mile race at Lexington, which he won with
ease. That race was intended as a preliminary trial for his Derby race
to-day, and it must be admitted that it brought him to the post in the
Derby in the very pink of condition. The great gelding was trained by F.
D. Weir, who is famous in turf annals of other days as the trainer of
Roseben, one of the champion sprinters of all time.
"This was surely a great day, and the Kentucky Derby this season eclipses
all records," said President Charles F. Grainger. "Old Rosebud and Hodge
are two three-year olds the like of which perhaps never met in a Derby
race. To beat a performer like Hodge as handily as he did to-day makes Old
Rosebud one of the champion three-year olds of all time. Hodge beat the
previous Derby record for a mile and a quarter as well as Old Rosebud, and
the race was run over a track more than a second slow. Had the Downs
course been at its fastest undoubtedly Old Rosebud would have beaten the
world's record for the Kentucky Derby distance on a circular track had he
been pushed."
Judge Charles F. Price stated that he had never seen a greater day of
racing. "There was not a single happening to mar the great pleasure of the
afternoon, and the Derby of 1914 was the most remarkable race ever run in
the long history of this classic event," said the presiding official. "It
was not only a track record for the Downs, but it was a remarkable race in
every particular and wonderful to relate, the two starts of the contest,
Old Rosebud and Hodge, are both geldings. It is questionable if in a
life-time two such horses as these three-year olds will be seen in any
Derby race together."