Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-05-28
WHOLE NO. 1882.
THE LOUISVILLE DERBY.
Ben Ali's victory-A GrandIy-Contested
Race.

Ben Al's Victory-A GrandIy- Contested
| Race.
The following extract from the interest
ing letter of Broad Church" in the New
York Spirit of the Times. gives the best
account we have seen OF the Louisville
Derby, in which the Sacramento horse Ben
Ali carried off the honors:
In the matter of looks, in the preliminary
cantef, Ben Ali took the palm, and that
TACT alone soon contributed to making him
a booming favorite although his party
would nave made him the favorite ANYHOW.
In the absence of boOkmaking referred to
| elseWhere), the auction pooling was yery
heavy, the odds against the Haggin colt
being My about eight TO five Free knight
| was good second choice Blue Wing
i tnlrd, ana as illustrating the nice Judgment
OF the heavy spectators these three formed
the tr1o OF placed horses. Everything being
IN readiness at last, the final bell rang. and
| the ten spirited thoroughbreds cantered up
the stretch to take positions for the best
| Derby contest ever run
Inc horses were started out of the chute.
| the send-od, SO far as could be discerned
| being very good one. II was soon seen.
| with the aid of glasses, that Masteruiece
was leading the pack, which were pretty
closely clustered behind him The relative
positions could not be well Giscerned until
the animals rushed passed the string at the
! end OF the first half mile. Then Master
piece had the'best of ii by two good lengths
with Harodsbnrg next, followed By Sir
| Joseph, Jim Gray, Ben Ali Free knight
| lijero and Blue Wing, but all so close to-
| gether that daylight was out of the ones
| ton. There was some little shifting of
| places in the HeXt quarter. but not yery
| much, Masterpiece still holding his own,
harrisburg second, while Jiri Gray was
tlilrd. At this time Free Knight was
fourth, and running well in hand, Ben Ali
| not over length behind him. with Blue
Wing close up. Indeed. the lot were still
well punched, as the real contest had not
yet commenced with the formidable few.
Before another quarter was covered which
completed the mile, the fan commenced in
earnest, and now changes, and pretty rapid
changes, were at once in order. Mastertiece
held the van for very nearly a mile. where
Harodsburg, Just for Il moment, showed in
front, the brown representative falling back
beaten. Herodsburg very quickly followed
suit. Then Fitzpatrick commenced his
run with Free knight, followed by Ben
Ali and Blue Wing, the last-named being
| no better than sixth at this time Grimaidi
and Jim Gray, after making q spu,t toward
the front during the last turn, soon fell
| back vanqnished, and a quarter OF a mile
triangular fight, the contestants being
! Free Knight, Ben Ali and Blue Wing. ali
| the others being now virtually out of the
! hunt. The green and red of Pat Corrigan
| liOated to the front at the head of the
stretch, and a shout went up, Free
Knight wins. The tune soon changed,
however, for Blue Wing was seen TO head
the half-brother of Freeland, and now a
babel of voices yelled ont the name OF the
MpihOlIrnp N Il,
was rung, and this time the name of the
Haggin representative, Ben Ali. was
shouted from thousand throats. Shortly
after entering the straight Blue Wing,
probably tiring from the furious pace,
swerved or bolted to the outside, thereby
losing the slight advantage he held, for
now Duffy called on the Virgil colt, and
the latter soon responded by assuming the
lead, which he held to the string winning
by length. Blue Wing came quite as
strong at the finish, close to the rail on the
outside, which left the impression with
some that had he not swerved he might
! have proved the victor. OF this there is
considerable doubt, as Ben Ali ran strong
and game to the end, winning 4 wonderful
| and grandly ly-contested race Free knight
was about three lengths behind Blue Wing
| then come Lijero, followed by Jim GRAY,
| with Masterpiece last of ALL
For the first time in the history of the
| Derby, the weight carried was 11S pounds.
| or eight pounds more than the impost of
| former years. With this fact taken into
account, the performance, from the time
andpoint-236l-wa really wonderful
one. The fastest time heretofore had been
2;37, made by Lord Murphy in 1879. Last
year Joe Cotton covered the distance in
2:374 and the performance was considered
! a very good one. The track was apparently
as good and fast on Cotton's day as it was
on Friday, so that Ben Ali's achievement.
considering the tsifieTtnce in weight. was
nothing short Of remarkable The first
quarter was covered in 244 seconds: the
half in 80 seconds; the three-quarters in
1:1G; the mile in 1:43, and the mile and a
quarter in 2:10.
Ben Ali is the third of the get of Virgil
who has captured the Kentucky Derby.
The Others were Hindoo and Vagrant. The
present winner stands q little over 15.3.
and is about as well-proportioned and
racing looking an animal as | ever laid
eyes on. He is a regular Virgil down.
with a small white star in his forehead and
white left pastern. These are the only
markings. Mr.. Haggin purchased him as
a yearling at the Elmendorf sale. He
started five times as a two-year old win
ming once-the July stakes, at Long
Branch-bu. that achievement was a very
creditable one He has two victories to his
credit at San francisco this spring, besides
waik-over, so that his total winnings this
year foot up nearly $4,000, with the season
yet quite young. He is engaged in about
900 worth of stakes. and his next ap-
pearance will be in the Clark, one mile and
Il quarter
Garrison's riding of Blue Wing in the
Derby has been the subject of more or less
critical talk, mainly on account of the
swerve on the stretch, and that the finish
was not exactly what it should have been.
There are few jockeys having the call
over Patsey Duffy who piloted Ben Ali to
victory
Mr.. Haggin asked the owner of Blue
Wing, after the Derby, to put a price on
his colt, saying he (Haegin) wished to pur-
chase him. Barnes declined, saving he
would first wait to see Blue Wing take
another whack at Ben Ali, in the Clark
stakes. After that negotiations might be
in order.