FIRST DERBY 1875



   To-day will ever be historic in the turf annals of Kentucky,
as the first "Derby Day," of what I hope to see a long series
of turf festivities. If the officers of the Association could have
had the pick from the calendar of the year, there could not
have been a more delightful and charming day. The morning
broke without a cloud visible in the heavens, while a cool breeze
was wafted over the course, tempering the increasing rays of
the sun. It was just such a day in May
      When the sun is rejoicing above in heaven,
      The clouds have all hurried away.
      Down in the meadow the blossoms are waking,
      Light on their twigs the young leaves are shaking,
      Round the warm knolls the lambs are a leaping,
      The colt from his fold o'er the pasture is sweeping,
      But on the bright lake,
      The little waves break,
      For there the cool west is at play.
   The course was in splendid order, and all the appurtenances
requisite for the comfort and convenience of racing was ready
to hand. In company with a friend we started early for the
course, 'thinking that we would reach it before the crowd, but
by half past eleven o'clock we found enough people to make a
respectable show. As the hour approached for the opening of
the ball, every avenue leading to the course was thronged with
people making their way to it. It was indeed a Derby Day ill
all respects. With the two railroads leading to the course, the
street cars, hacks and private vehicles, when the first bell was
rung for the riders, the Grand Stand presented one solid mass
of human faces, while the quarter-stretch, the public stand, and
a portion of the field was covered with people. There could