The Pensacola journal., 1907-06-12

THAT WERE FRIGHTENING.
When Richard Croker won the
Derby at EPSON, he gained the
ambition of his life, his colt, Orby,
bred from an American dam and rid
den by an American jockey, johnny
Reiff, having beaten all the British
cracks and captured the blue ribbon
event of the worlds turf by two
lengths. The time was 2:44 for the
mile and a half. The track was
heavy.
Had Few Friends.
Outside of Mr.. Croker and his i'm
mediate encourage, Orby had but few
! friends, and the betting indicated that
| the sporting prophets estimated his
chances at being slight Orby closed
at 100 to 9. Mr.. Croker and those
! who watched the colts trials, how
ever, were sanguine that they had a
| surprise in store for the Derby
crowds. Those who saw the Irish
American candidate do his stretching
| gallOp early this morning liked the
| youngster so well that they thought
| it wise to hedge, and his appearance
on parade and at the post before the
race brought a number of adherents.
| Nothing, however, could shake the
position of Sieve Gallon, the Irish
horse, which won the two thousand
guineas stakes at Newmarket May 1,
the 1S-tO-S faVOrite with the crowds,
and his defeat was regarded as in
conceivable. Even the short odds on
Sieve Gallon failed to deter the bet
ters from actively supporting him.
The Race.
Only nine horses went to the post,
and the starter had no difficulty in get.
ting them away in good shape. A rank
outsider, John Bull, belonging to Hor-
alto BottOmley, took the lead from
Sieve Gallon, Besonian, Galvina and
Orby, with All Black last.
After covering five fUrlongs in this
order, Sieve Gallon took up the run
ming Coming down the hill Besonian
and Orby pushed up on the leader,
and rounding Tattenham corner the
American challenged the favorite.
Rieff. riding Orby with admirable
| judgment, gradually took his mount
to the front, and, stalling off a chal-
Ienge on the post by Wool Wfnderr
landed his horse a winner by two
| lengths. Half length separated the
second and third horses. Orby met
with a mixed reception or returning
to the scale. The vast majority OF
cases large sums. The hundreds of
Americans present, however, gave the
ex-Tammanys chief and his horse a
rousing receptiob. /
Irish Joy.
The Irish, who were present in
thousands, gave Orby and his owner
a memorable greeting, Mr.. Croker,
usually a most reserved man, was I'M
able to hide his excitement at win
ming the victory and rushed out to
lead his horse in. He had. to run
the gauntlet of salvOs Of cheers and
shouts of "Old Ireland forever" as he
returned to the unsaddling inclosure
! leading the winner.
Aside from the enormous prestige
of winning the blue ribbon of the turf
Mr.. Croker has made a fortune. In
the first place the stakes, $500 SOW
ereigns, or $50, 800, is no incOnsider-
able sum. Then he had the opportun-
| ity OF making any number of bets at
about 10 to I, and finally, the value of
Orby has increased to such an ex-
| tent that Mr.. Croker may, if he so
desires, sell him for an increased
sum. OF course it is impossible to
! form an exact estimate of the fnan-
! cial fruits of Mi CTOker's triumph.
/ but one way and the other they were
placed at about $250.OO0.
Lord Roseberry's Besonian, ridden
/ by Danny" Maher, was forth
| King Edwards party included the
/ Price and Princess of Wales, the Duke
and Duchess of Connaught and the
Grand Duke Michael of Russia.
MI Croker. with a party of friends,
watched the race closely from a box
overlooking the post. He led the rush
toward the track when Orby came up
the stretch in front of the other com
petitCrs. and he was ready when
Johnny ReifT had brought the win
ner back to the judges box to lead
the horse in which he had placed his
confidence past the royal box occupied
by King Edward and his guests thence
to the paddock. where he received the
congratulations of hundreds of his
friends.
THE Tammany.' or BOSS CrOker's
Derby" as the 1907 race will hence
forth be known. proved in many
ways a disapDoir>m to the enor-
nous crowd that gathered at Epson
Downs to witness the sporting event
of the year.
Csddish Disappointment.
Mr.. Croker. by winning this his
toric event. with his chestnut colt
Orby. in fine style. gained little of
OHe SoOu VIII OF LhS btlCISH racing
public, but has the satisfaction of
having attained the envy OF every
sportsman who comes upon the Brit
ish turf and having won out in the
determination he made a few years
ago. when the Jockey Club excluded
his horses from Newmarket without
assigning any reason, of one day win
ming the derby. On the other hand.
the British public. who had wagered
lot of money on the beaten favoritc
Sieve Gallon, and who like to see
the blue ribbon carried off by a titled
or aristocratic sportsman, were keen
y disappointed. The day began bad
ly with torrents of rain, which oc-
casioned the first disappointment to
the crowd. In spite of the absence