Old Rosebud

[Calzone Lord]

I've called this horse: "the most remarkable North American thoroughbred racer of all-time"

Perhaps even further adding to his remarkably -- he won the 1914 Kentucky Derby in the final time of 2:03 2/5ths. One-fifth of a second faster than the winning time this year.

What's more, the Churchill Downs surface was widely predicted to be slow for the 1914 Derby. This was the DRF Headline the morning of the race:





Only one other route race was carded that year. It was a claiming race won by a 6-year-old gelding named Rash:




Rash got 8.5 furlongs in 1:47 3/5ths. It was his fourth win in his last five starts. His final time translates to a raw figure 40 points slower than Old Rosebud's Derby time.

The two six furlong races on that Derby card went in: 1:14 flat and 1:13 2/5ths. In fact, the six furlong track record at the time was 1:11 flat. By comparison, on this years Derby card, the AC Avila maiden Masochist went 1:08.85 for six furlongs.

Anyway, it's pretty astonishing that a 1914 Derby winner owns a faster final time than a 2014 Derby winner.


Here's a link to an article I did on Old Rosebud earlier this year. He's truly an all-time great with an unbelievable story:

http://www.horseracingnation.com/blo...Years_Ago_123#

[OldDog]

His IS a remarkable story. Thank you for linking your earlier piece.

"Normally, when your former champion two-year-old, record setting Kentucky Derby winning three-year-old, and Horse of the Year older horse wins a claiming race at age 10 and pulls up lame, it's probably best to retire him."

Well . . . yeah. We would certainly think so today. And I would think that Weir might have thought to handle his "pet" differently.

DRF ran this one three months later
http://www.drf.com/news/story-old-ro...erican-tragedy

[GoIrish]

Thanks for that. Wonderful article.

[Calzone Lord]

Old Rosebud was a truly great horse.

In my opinion, for him to have been rated only the 88th best racehorse of the 20th century by the Blood-Horse panel was a farce.

He should have been rated much higher, and he was seemingly discredited for competing in claiming races, at an old age, at the very tail-end of his career.

He was one of the best 2-year-old champions of all-time. His Kentucky Derby win rates as one of the most impressive and dominant in the entire history of the race. His comeback from injury off of a 3-year layoff, to capture Horse of the Year honors at age six represents the greatest comeback in the sports history. He made another dramatic comeback from a serious injury at age 8 before tailing off under ruthless campaigning.

[tanner12oz]

I saw a photo collage from 1941 of a horse called Ida time I think from long closed Cumberland racetrack in md..kicking myself for not buying it..