FROM THE ARCHIVES:The Irish Derby in 1907 was won by Orby, owned by Richard "Boss" Croker, the Irish-born gang leader who rose to become head of Tammany Hall in New York before retiring to Ireland to live off the wealth he had accumulated through political corruption. –
JOE JOYCE
VERY RARELY has a larger company mustered in the enclosure at the Curragh than that of yesterday, and even granting that the Irish Derby always proves a big draw, the interest on the present occasion was considerably heightened owing to the fact of Orby being due to take part in the race.
The prospect of seeing the winner of the Derby running in the Irish Blue Riband was an attraction that many who but seldom go racing could withstand, and the result was that from Dublin alone a huge contingent travelled down to the “short grass”, no less than five special trains having to be requisitioned to convey the passengers, and these, with the people who came from other quarters, helped to make the crowd of great dimensions.
Fortunately, the weather, though by no means typical of the average June, was somewhat more favourable than on Tuesday, the atmosphere not being so cold, but the wind that blew from the Kildare end of the Curragh was a trifle disagreeable, and we could have done without the showers which fell.
The race for the Derby proved the one-sided affair that was generally anticipated, Orby’s smashing victory at Epsom pointing to his success in yesterday’s event, which, by the way, differs very much from the English Derby, inasmuch as in our race there are penalties and allowances, and, of course, in the other there is only the sex allowance.
Thus, whereas Orby was meeting his opponents across the Channel on level terms, he was conceding over a stone to all save Gleg in the Irish Derby. However, this made no difference to the colt on whom odds of 10 to 1 were laid, and he won with the utmost east from his stable companion, Georgetown. The odds were so prohibitive that few laid them, but none the less the victory was one of the most popular of recent times, and the wild scene of enthusiasm it evoked has only once been equalled at the Curragh, and that was five years ago, when St. Brendan defeated Port Blair.
Fortunately the drizzle ceased just as the finishing touches were being put to the toilettes of the Derby candidates, who numbered seven all told, or two less than last year, when Killeagh credited Mr. Joseph Lowry with the stake. The general desire was, of course, to see Orby, who had won his spurs so gallantly at Epsom in the early part of the month, and had there proved his title to rank as the best three-year-old in Europe.
It was no easy matter, however, to get a view of the colt, so densely was the paddock packed by people eager to scan him and the other competitors, but this was eventually accomplished, and as Orby and his owner came into the saddling enclosure they were greeted with a cheer.
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