Kentucky Derby

It rained till the Churchill Downs track looked like a brown and olive swamp. The favorite flower of the East was Blue Larkspur, but Man O' War's gelded son Clyde Van Dusen won the race. The other Clyde Van Dusen, his trainer, nearly wept when he saw him come in. His owner, Broom Manufacturer Herbert P. Gardner, did not watch him because he was afraid of the excitement. His jockey, Linus ("Pony") McAtee, who won the 1927 Derby on Whiskery, said "I knew it from the start." More than 60,000 people watched the race, All of them got wet, but the cheers which greeted the gelding when two men staggered toward him with a flower horseshoe, seemed to stop the rain.

Jimmy Walker had a box but Manhattan had a police parade so Jimmy stayed at home. Walter J. Salmon, whose Dr. Freeland won the Preakness, was there and so was Publisher Paul Block, who arrived in a private car. Publisher Joseph Pulitzer went in an airplane and was greeted by Brother-Publisher Ralph Pulitzer. "Bath House" John Coughlin, owner of Karl Eitel who did not place, wore an apple-blossom shirt, necktie, hat band. Herbert Bayard Swope, just returned from England, got his red hair wet and Commander Paul V. McNutt of the American Legion had the crease rained out of his trousers. Mrs. Graham Fair Vanderbilt did not seem to mind when her Chicatie came in last. She still felt Chicatie was a nice horse. Among governors were Kentucky's Sampson, Tennessee's Horton, Indiana's Leslie, New Hampshire's Tobey, Pennsylvania's Fisher, Wisconsin's Kohler. Vice President Curtis who saw the Preakness with Mrs. Gann stayed away, but Charles Curtis Jr. went. From Chicago, came Joseph Medill Patterson and from Manhattan John J. Raskob. Matt Winn, director of Churchill Downs, was as excited as anybody although he has managed the Kentucky Derby for 25 years.