The French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1896-1912, 1907-06-13
CROKER WINS The DERBY
CORNER amman ChIeftaIn's 0rby
Lands English Classic Race.
Victorious Horse Was Pred From an
American Dam and Ridden by
an American Jockey, Reif.

London.-Richard Cookers Orby,
ridden by Johnny" Reif, an Ameri-
can jockey, won the Derby Stakes, of
$500 s~overeigns, at Epson, distance
about one mile and a half.
Wool Winder, ridden by Madden,
an English jockey, was second. and
Sieve Gallon, an Irish horse, ridden
by Higgs, an English jockey, was
third.
Orhy was bred in ireland out of an
American dam, and thus the Derby
has been won by an American owner.
whose horse was ridden by an Arncri-
can jockey and whose mount vas out
of en- American
Nine horses started.
The betting was 100 to q against
Orbv and Wool Winder and Is to s
on Sieve Gallon.
, Orby won bv two lengths The en-
thusiasm Of the Americans can be
easier Imagined than described. and
Mr.. Croker. his white bearded face
beaming with ha~nniness, was con-
graduated on all sides.
Outside of Mr.. Croker and his i'm
mediate encourage Orbv had but few
friends. and the betting indicated
that the sporting pronhets estimated
his chances as being slight. Mr.. Gro
ker and those who watched the colts
trials. however, were Sanguine that
they held a surprise in store for the
Derby crowds.
Much of the customary gayety and
| nicturesquenesS were lacking in the
| familiar Derby Dav scenes on the
i road to EPSON. Torrents Of rain
poured down ND to 10 o'clock and the
muddy, dismal procession bound to
the downs looked uncommonly like
the return of the procession after the
downfall of the favorite.
Scores of special trains, however,
took enormous crowds to EPSON.
King Edward elected to travel by
train. The royal party included the
Prince and Princess Of Wales, the
Duke and Duchess Of Connaught and
the Grand Duke Michael of Russia.
Orby met with a mixed reception
on returning to the scale. The vast
majority of the crowd had lost
money. in many cases huge sums
The hundreds of Americans present
however, gave the ex-Tammany CHIEF
and his horse u rousing reception.
Aside from the enormous prestige
Of winning the blue ribbon Of the
turf, Mr.. Croker made a fortune. In
the first place, the stakes, $500 SOW
ereigns, or $4,000, is no inconsider
able sum, then he had the opportu'
nifty of making any number of bet!
at about 10 to /, and, finally, the
value of Orby has increased to sucf
an extent that Mr.. Croker may, If h'
so desires, sell him for an immens'
sum. OF course it is impossible tt
form an exact estimate of the fnan
cial fruits of Mr. Cookers triumph
but, n way and the other, they wer'
placed at about $250,000.
Richard Croker has enjoyed one o
the most fantastic revolutions OF tn,
whirligig of time. Driven out of Eng
lish racing through the rulings of tn
Jockey Club, and retiring in DISCUS
to Dublin, he has returned to win tn
blue ribbon of the turf. This is glor,
enough for a Tammany statesman on
of business, whether he attends tn
Kings dinner for the melanchol
Jockey Club at Buckingham Palac
or stays away in isolated grandeur.
It was not a popular victory. Tn
crowds were cold and cheered onl
languidly, from stress of excitement
They we're silent and resentful whe
} Mr. Croker, with q beaming smile
led in his horse.