One way to bet on last week's Kentucky Derby was described by Lester Doctor, betting expert for the Whitneys. The morning of the race he had made a long distance call, been cut off by an operator who said something about "overtime." Lester Doctor said he was playing Mrs. John Hay ("Jock") Whitney's entry, Overtime.
Another good way was to pick out the jockey you liked and play his mount. The field, weakened by three important withdrawals in the last week, was not up to Derby standard and the horses were hard to rate on form, but everyone knew about most of the riders. Everyone could have a good look at them. Perched like bright birds in the sun on the veranda of the jockey house, they sat chatting to each other. In the moving crowd below the veranda stood a detective watching them.
Earl Sande, most famed jockey in the U. S., his cheerful little face pinched by the strain of making weight, had won three Derbies and wanted another to break the record. He was wearing Mrs. "Jock" Whitney's fuchsia silks, as was Lavelle ("Buddy") Ensor, whom she had chosen to ride Stepenfetchit. Ten years ago, when he was regarded as the best rider in the country, Ensor's conviviality grew so pronounced that no trainer dared trust him with a mount. This year, reformed at 34, his comeback has been even more dramatic than Sande's.
Another jockey waiting for the start was Laverne Fator, whose admirers consider him more brilliant than Sande. Col. Edward Riley Bradley, who had two horses entered last week, told Fator to choose the one he wanted to ride. Fator, who had won $3,000,000 for various owners and won every important U. S. race except the Derby and the Belmont Stakes, chose Brother Joe. Burgoo King, a horse that most of Louisville liked better, he turned over to 19-year-old Eugene James, a jockey who was bred in Louisville and made a sensation last season, his first.
The actual running of the Kentucky Derby, over a mile-and-a-quarter of chocolate-colored loam at Churchill Downs, takes a few seconds more than two minutes. As the horses paraded to the post last week, Crystal Prince shied at the loud band playing "Swanee River." Cee Tee and Tick On made trouble at the barrier. Cee Tee was placed outside and when the barrier finally sprang after 15½ min., Tick On was pocketed behind the field. It took Fator on Brother Joe about a half-mile to find that he had picked the wrong horse. Brother Joe pulled up lame and Fator could see Burgoo King, running well with the leaders, in third place, behind Economic and Brandon Mint as they started down the back stretch.
Coming around the second turn, Burgoo King moved up with a burst of speed. From three lengths behind tired Economic at the head of the turn, he was four lengths ahead after the horses came into the stretch. Jockey James, who usually lies back to wait for clear running at the start of a race, has the reputation of being impossible to catch when his horse is leading in the stretch. Jockey Horn on Economic and Jockey Ensor, coming up fast with Stepenfetchit, found him impossible to catch last week. Burgoo King was first by five lengths at the finish, with Economic second, Stepenfetchit third, Tick On sixth.