“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.”
SUMMARY
Saturday, May 9, 1914. Track good. Derby 1 and ¼ mile. $10,000 added, value to winner $9,125. For 3-year olds. Time 1:38⅘, 2:03⅖.
| Old Rosebud, 114, McCabe | 1 | |
| Hodge, 114, Taylor | 2 | |
| Bronze Wing, 117, J. Hanover | 3 |
John Gund, 117, Byrne; Old Ben, 114, Turner; Surprising, 117, Peak; Watermelon, 112, French.
Winner bay geld, by Uncle—Ivory Bells. Owner H. C. Applegate. Trainer F. D. Weir.
FORTY-FIRST DERBY 1915
Regret, a chestnut daughter of Broomstick—Jersey Lightning, to-day overcame tradition that has withstood since Aristides, the “little red horse,” triumphed in the inaugural running of the Blue Grass State classic in the spring of 1875, and gained for her owner, Harry Payne Whitney, the Eastern sportsman, the sum of $11,450 and what is infinitely more to him the honor of winning The Kentucky Derby.