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 2:03⅖, 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 0:58⅘, again in 0:58⅗ and again 0:58⅖. 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.