The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-05-05
By Joe Williams
% Derby FavOrites Win
Longest Odds $91.45 to 81
Bets May Reach Million

T OUISVILLE, May 81 have been told by Grass material
- lists that there is only one thing anybody wants to know
about the Kentucky Derby, which is being run down here to-
day for the sixtieth time-and that is the winner.
On the of-chance that this may not be entirely so-and
not being a certified clairvoyant anyway have checked
back through the history of the south's greatest sporting
event and come up with my fingers dripping with succulent
facts, some of which may interest you.
The first Derby was run on MOnday-on Monday, May
IT, 1875, to be precise. A war hero, General Ulysses Grant,
sat in the White House at the time. A bloke named Tom
Allen of England claimed the world heavyweight champion
ship. There were Indian uprisings in the west. Fanny Ward
was learning about plastic surgery for the first time. Cy
Young was developing his curve ball. l don't know just
where Rabbit Maranvile was then.
LITTLE red chestnut named Arisides won the first Derby. yielding
n a cash return OF s285o to its owner one H P McGrath. Since then
the value of the DERBY has grown to $4,000 added and slipped, in the
Count won in 1928 the purse was s55575-the richest of all Derbies to
r.. You ~ hear from from time to time that the Derby BY is - not e. 2 traIy,rm rae race:
have been favoTftes. This is an excellent showing, especially when it is
considered that the Derby is run in early spring when the horses are not
as formful as they usually are later in the season.
At the same time there have been a number Of long shot winners in
that's Ts still tops. = "''' ''"S '~'"s w" II 'O' ~ '''' =" o.
WAS talking to the jockey who rode DOneran the other day, ROsce
u l. Goose. now 9Ta a smaI,time trainer 81. down this way & Goose IS says P t. HAYES zys
But I knew Doneran could go as far and fast As any horse in the
race" said Goose, land % I was finally able to persuade Hayes to put
f IN m b@ the d race be. Its got Do @a d,i free evc of the pack ok t at the of last Stn turn n and NJ.
ns a day l5'P Pcai H9@ G iy % a eTe' The no oIoekie asn ANNOUNCED ama sTf te tme at 2% 5af Ara track *
new record"
Mr.. Goose had himself a twenty dollar ticket N his mount, and it
is his recollection the owner played something else in the race, either
Ten Point, the favorte, or Fountain, popular choice of the native hard
boots. Mr.. Goose tells you he wouldn't mind winning another bet like
that some time. Really.
TWICE there have been Derby winners who commanded such n
i general following that the most a man could win for his dollar
was 80 13 cents. You go all the way back to Halma in 1895 for the
first one to three shot and then you move up to 1905 for the other one.
when Agile as about the only horse in the field anybody cared to
invest in.
The most active betting race was the 1926 Derby when $2O96OOO
was poured into the machines. That was the year Colonel E. R. Bradley
won his second Derby with Bubbhng Over, with Baggenbaggage, another
of his colts, running second. The Bradley entry was the favoite, tobacco
prices were high, money was plentiful down here, and when money is
plentiful down here the good people don't hesitate to send it in.
From this peak figure the Derby day mutuel totals dWindled
steadily until in 1882 the machines for the first time in seven years
fell below the million dollar mark. Last year the total reached a new
low of $745600-which wasn't half bad at that, in a year when banks
were blowing up all over the country, and a fellow with $745 in cash
was accounted a gold hoarder.
COLONEL MATT WYNN. who took hold of the Derby when it was
little more than a country fair race with something of a background
and by shrewd showmanshp developed it into the picture race of the ma
ton, thinks the mutuel total for todays race may present a return to mil
lion dollar betting.
we have shown a daily up of 20 per cent over last year in the
a break in the weather it wouldn't surprise me to zee a tremendous play
on the race, particularly since it seems to be more or less of a wide open
proposition"
The colonel thinks some mention should be made publicly of this re
newed interest in sporting speculation because it reflects in no little de
gree the condition of the country, both as to finances and mental attitude.
when you see people betting ON the horses you can be pretty sure that
the country is coming along all right" he says.