Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 84, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 June 1903 — BRIEF STORY OF THE AMERICAN DERBY OF 1903 [ARTICLE]

BRIEF STORY OF THE AMERICAN DERBY OF 1903

f -A..U-S _ Winner of the Derby ». .Thfe Picket Value to owners $27,025 Odds on winner 10 to 1 Attendance C 70,000 Time Of race. 2:33 Number of starters. 19 The time of the race —2:33 —is the record for the American Derby. Claude, the second horse, gets $3,000 of the Derby stakes, and Bernays, which ran third, receives $2,000. While The Picket takes the best record for the American Derby, Washington Park alro holds the world’s record for the Derby distance. July 10, 1898, Goodrich, 3-year-old, carrying 102 pounds, covered the mile and a half in 2:30%. The receipts of the Washington Park Club for the day are figured at $150,000. Automobile turnouts were far more numerous than on any previous Derby day, but the stable equipages were on a striking scale both in regard to appointments and vehicles. The display of finery is said to have never been surpassed on an American race track. The total amount wagered on the Derby is estimated at $1,500,000, far exceeding the plunging on any other American Derby. The biggest winner of the flay was Joseph Yeager. He is said to have gathered in $40,000. Yeager had S3OO in Weller’s winter book on The Picket at GO to 1, winning SIB,OOO. Louisville people won about $25,000 on The .Picket’s victory. John W. Gates and John A. Drake had $15,000 up on Savable, while Drake had $40,000 on Savable iu the winter books. Charles R. Ellison had $5,000 on Judge Himes. The only filly in the race, Flocarline, made a fair showing, finishing seventh, while Judge Himes, winner of the Kentucky Derby, finished absolutely lart. All the big bookmakers, especially the makers of winter books, are heavy winners on the event. The South Side elevated road carried 40,000 persons to the track, and the Illinois Central 25,000. Last year the elevated line carried 2G.000 people and the Illinois Central about 20,000.