Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-17
SETS SPEED MARK
IN S4S,725 CLASSIC
Pays 1915 MutueI in Beat
ing Sweep All 4 Lengths.
Mate Finishes Third.
BY FRANCIS J. POWERS.
DOWNS, Louis


turn for home, Twenty
Grand, the gallant brown colt of
Mrs. Helen Hay Whitney's Green
tree Stables, raced to victory in
the fifty-seventh annual renewal
Of the Kentucky Derby here this
afternoon.
The Greentree star not only won
the historic Blue Grass classic by
four lengths, but also set new
track and Derby record for the
mile and one-quarter by travelling
the course in 2:01 As. Sweep All,
owned by Charles T. Fisher of
Detroit, was second. four lengths
behind, and Mate, one of the bet
ting favoriteS, was third.
Twenty Grand, always a slow starter,
broke ninth in the field of IL from
The barrier and had dropped to tenth
as the quarter-nlile pole was passed,
with Prince D'Amour, the gray ghost
of the turf, setting the pace. Boys
Howdy was in second place, with Ladder
pounding at his TANKS.
As the pack swung wide for the first
turn, Charlie Kurtsinger headed Twenty
Grand In toward the rail and sent him
sharply between two contestants that
| had started to lag. Twenty Grand had
pulled up to sixth at the half and the
| pink and black of Kurtsingers colors
could be seen lifted high OF the saddle
Ladder had taken the lead ut that point
and Prince D'Amour had begun to slack
OF in his pace.
Then It was that Twenty Grand
really began his race His long, brown
body close to the ground, he began to
pull toward the front, and at the three
| quarter mark he was second and only
one-half length behind Sweep All
Kurtsinger then swung Twenty Grand
to the outside Of the pack and as the
| field turned into the home stretch he
| drove the son of st. German and
Bonus into the lead. Down the stretch
the new Derby king came, well out from
the rail, increasing his margin at every
stride. AS Twenty Grand crossed the
breathing easily.
Time, 2:o1 As, Sets Record.
In running the Derby distance In
2:01 AS, Twenty Grand broke the old
record of 2:03 Us, set by Old Rosebud
far back in 1918 and the track record
of 1903 is, held by Woodtrap. Twenty
/
and made his total winnings climb to
/ Sl56, 100 for two seasons on the turf.
| Backers of Twenty Grand were paid
| 1915 for their investments in his speed.
| Mate, the A. c. Bostwick colt, that
| won the rich PreaknesS stake only a
week ago and was second in the bet
ting, never could find better than third
but advanced to fourth at the haf-mile
and then swung into third place and
held consistently to that post.
| Sweep Ais drive TO second place was
| the only upset of form in the race and
paid $l558 for place in the mutuels.
/ Like Twenty Grand, Sweep All was
slow leaving the barrier, but pulled
| from eleventh to seventh In the first
| quarter He was third at the half mile
and as the pack flashed by the three
| quarter post he was one-half length in
| the lead. Then Twenty Grand fitted
past, but the Fisher horse gamely held
| his position in front Of the remainder
of the field.
Pittsburgher Never q Factor.
Pittsbureher. hope of the West was
| heavily played In the betting, but
| finished seventh and never was better
than that place, Spanish Play landed
in fourth position after being eighth
at the half and the rest of the field was
scattered over IL lengths of turf be-
hind the Greentree star.
Little time was wasted in getting the
field of II thoroughbreds away from the
barrier. 1t was almost o'clock when
Spanish Play led the parade from the
paddock and the fiower-spotted infield
was bright in the afternoon Spring sun
shine. A brisk wind blew out of the
South and whipped the flags Of all
nations stifiy from their STATS. AS
Jockey Charlie Allen lifted Spanish Play
! through the lane the refrain Of the blue
grass, my Old Kentucky Home" came
throbbing from ampltfiers and the
crowd of $4,000 stood with heads barred.
Starter Will Hamilton had q little
trouble with Sweep All and Anchors
Aweigh and twice grooms were forced
to back the friSky colts into the stalls
Then the red flag dropped and the
crowd that had stood In tense silence
broke into a frenzy Of cheering that
never died until Twenty Grand had
crossed the finish line
They brought the winner into the
tiny grass plot before the grandstand-
kept inviolate for champions-and
there Charles Curtis, Vice President of
the United States, presented Mrs Helen
Hay Whitney with the Regal Gold
Trophy. And around the neck of
Twenty Grand was draped a collar of
roSes-similar to those that have decked
Sc other Derby champions never
greater or gamer one than this pride
of the Greentree Stables.
Greatest" Three Year-OId.
Tonight turf followers are acclaim
ing Twenty Grand as one of the great
est of all American three-year-
AS a 2-year-old he won the Kentucky
Jockey Club stakes in / SO, the fastest
l. f~xH -
and today over the same track he
smashed a record that had stood for
II years. Churchill Downs is Twenty
Grands track. and his work here
proves the old English turf proverb
Horses for courses and courses for
horses" 1t was the colts liking for
the fast Kentucky oval that made Jim
Rowe, his trainer, so confident he could
win over Mate.
Cornelius Vanderbilt whitney
scratched his colt Equipoise at noon
time and thereby removed from the
field the horse that had enioyed the
heaviest play in the Winter book. Eoui.
poise had trained badly and Saturday
morning came up with blind quarter
splint on a fore leg. Don Leon was
withdrawn at 2 pm. and shortly before
Up, the winner OF the Aqua Caliente
Twenty Grand was not the only
record breaker of the day. In the fourth
race Gallant Knight ran six and one
half furlongs in 1:16 is for a new
world mark. The Knight, which nm
ished second to Gallant Fox in the 1880
Derby. bettered the old mark
for that distance of lit. made by
Harry Payne whitney,s Boojum in the
Saratoga Hopeful, August 81, 1929.