The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1896-05-09
SEAES LANDED HIS HORSE FIRST
OVEk THE WIRE.
ben Elder, Poorly Ridden, Took Sec
Ond Place, but Should Have
Had the Race.

VlCt0ry IN the IlQ heHtuCky OSIDy. AAc
great son of Bramble was not fit for
bruising race, such as he had this after
noon, but under the careful guidance of
Sims he landed the coveted prize and the
first Kentucky DERBY ever run at the
shortened distance of mile and quar-
ter. All the honor and the $4,000 which
went to Ben Brush properly belonged TO
Ben Elder, and had it not been for the
stable boy who essayed to pilot the son OF
Fonso there would have been several
lengths of daylight between Ben Brush
and Ben Elder, which should have showed
the way under the wire.
Never before in the history of Churchill
Downs was such throng seen. For the
first time in the history of the course there
ting ring and on the lawn it was one solid
mass of humanity.
First Mate showed a bad temper at the
pest keeping it up until they were all
caught in line and sent away, after two
unsuccessful attempts and 20 minutes de-
lay. When the flag went down Starter
Chinn had them we'll in hand, with Ben
Elder having an advantage Of a neck, The
Winner second, First Mate third, The
Dragon fourth, Parson fifth, Ulysses
sixth, Ben Brush seventh, Ben Ego last.
At the fall Of the flag the red colors of
Easton & Larrabie shot almost like
fash to the front, and when the stand
was passed for the first time Thorpe was
showing the way on First Mate by half a
length from Semper Ego, who was neck
in front of Ben Elder, with Ben Brush Il
nose behind him, and the others close up.
Thorpe seemed determined to make run
away race of it, and in going around the
~ 10 I'M n
his head until two lengths separated him
from The Winner, with Semper Ego, Ben
Brush, The Dragon, Parson, Ben Elder
and Ulysses following in the order named.
It was going down the back stretch that
Tabor. who is but little better than a sta
BILE boy, committed the first error that cost
the Hot Springs stable $4,000. From safe
position the lad pulled the colt back into
seventh place at the first half mile. In
this position he raced down the back
stretch, making no attempt to come
through the field until they had turned
into the stretch First Mate continued to
lead the way, and when the first mile was
finished he had an advantage of half
length, Sims having moved Ben Brush up
to- second place, with Semper Ego still
third, The Winner fourth, The Dragon
fifth, Parson sixth, followed by Ben Elder
and Ulysses. Willie Sims began riding on
the last turn, and when they were
Strengthened for the final run he was lead
ing by neck from Ben Elder, whom Ia
Dor had brought up from next to last in a
half furlong journey. First Mate was
third, Semper Ego fourth, The Dragon
fifth, and the remainder strung out.
Ben Brush wins!' went up from
thousand threats almost simultaneously,
q Sims inch NV inch inCrnaS his loa6
to the eighth. But there was another
horse in the race, who. despite the poor
riding of his jockey, promised the son of
Bramble the race of his life. Ben Brush
did not have much left, but Sims was get
ting all of it out of him, when Ben Elder,
with steady stride, was gaining the
colt. For the last sixteenth Of the jour
ney prettier battle of equines was never
witnessed. Sims, by his good work, kept
Ben Brush in front by scant nose; while
Tabor, apparently unconscious that he
was in a horse race sat idly on Ben Elder
and saw the Fonso colt lose a race that
properly belonged to him. ITS a dead
heat!' followed from the crowd around
the judges stand as the two horses shot
under the wire, five lengths from Semper
Ego, who was five lengths from First
Mate, the same distance separating him
from The Dragon: The Winner was sixth,
Parson seventh and Ulysses eighth. The
judges seemed little uncertain them
selves, but after a wait of minute they
hung out the numbers which made Ben
Brush the victor and Ben Elder second
The other five events were without spe-
c;al incident, except in the sixth race,
when Joe Clark fell In the stretch, break
ing his leg. He was shot.
Six furlongs-Harry Reed won, Jake