The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-09-13
VIRDOTTE IT IS.
A Kansas Horse Wins the
Kansas Derby.
An Easy Victor He Nearly Equals
Track Record.
PASSING OF EGYPTA.
Fast Topeka Mare Distanced
After Winning Two Heats.
Jockey Dunbar Makes Record by
Riding All Winners.
Rain Played Havoc With the
Horse Show.

Another Kansas Derby has been run
and won. and Virdotte, a 5-year-old
bay gelding owned by A. L. Snodgrass,
of Gordon, Kan, takes his place among
the winners of the classic event of the
Kansas running turf. It was a glorious
race, run under ideal conditions, and
while it was won undoubtedly by the
best horse in it, a good share of the
victory should go to Johnny Dunbar, the
jockey, who managed to keep his mount
well placed throughout the race and
bring him home winner by two
lengths.
Between three and four thousand
persons were on hand at the race track
at the fair grounds Tuesday afternoon
to see the running of the Derby and
cheer the winner, which they did right
royalty. This race was but the feature
of an excellent programme of running,
trotting and pacing races provided by
the management for the real opening
day of the state fair Indeed, if the
races of yesterday can be taken as a
criterion of the ones that are to be pro-
vlded for the rest OF the week, it is
certain that this fair will go down in
history as the one which has provided
a race meet that has never been equal
led here and which will be hard to beat.
All of the six races on the card were
interesting as well as exciting, and if
applause and cheers go for anything
the crowd that saw them was more than
pleased. This crowd was a record
br eaker for the first day of a race meet
ing. The big grandstand, with a ca
pacity of 1000 persons, was well filled
and by far the great majority in it were
women. Dressed in their furbelOWS of
summer, they added a charming bit of
color to the scene. On both sides of the
judges stand in the quarter stretch were
any number of stylish rigs and automo-
biles filled with the prominent residents
of the city, and in the field within the
track a touch of the picturesque was
furnished by Indian boys and girls ca
v0rting around on wiry broncos.
Only one thing marred the sport of
the day and that was the delay in
starting a good many of the heats of
the harness races. In some instances
there was delay of more than 20 min
utes and it was long after 6 o'clock be-
fore the last race had been run. This
delay was in measure excusable.
Zack Ramsdell, the Topeka horseman,
had a horse in each of two races and as
these races followed each other he nat
urally had to take considerable time to
unhitch and hitch up again. But he
delayed the start of one of the heats so
long that Starter Updegraff fined him
$25- This was not the only hard luck
that Mr.. Ramsdell had. He won the
first two heats of the first race with
Egypta. She tired badly in the next
two heats and<Was distanced in the fifth
so that Mr.. Ramsdell did not get in the
money in the race. He made a protest
on being declared distanced but it was
not allowed.
The Derby was the fourth race on the
card and it was not run until a trotting
and two pacing races had been finished.
Fourteen horses, comprising the best of
the bangtails in Kansas were carded
for the race but only six of them start
ed. These starters were Virdotte, Stain
brook, DR.. Nash, Montezuma, Tancreed
and Lady Chatan. Tancreed was the
favorite in the betting, and it may be
stated here that the betting on all the
races was light. 1t was confined prin-
cipally to stable hands and rail birds
and the two bookmaking establish
ments to the left of the grand stand had
little nothing to do. Virdotte was
the second choice in the betting, what
little there was of it and the other
horses were at prices that showed them
to be losers in the eyes of the bookmak-
ers. The horses were started from a.
stand with barrier and when IT was
sprung they got away in a bunch. Vir-
dotte had the rail. For the first half
mile the six horses were so punched
that they could be covered with a
blanket But as they swung into the