Tall Tales of the Track – A Case of Mistaken Identity?

Can This Be True?
Men and Horses Dead
Wrong Orders Did It
Riley Killed

The headlines splashed across Midwestern newspapers on June 10, 1890, shared the tragic news of a train wreck at St. Louis that had taken the lives of several horses and men. Among the names of the dead were horses like Proctor Knott, Spokane, Huntress, Robespierre, and Riley, all names that turf enthusiasts of the era would recognize. The latter name, cited as the ‘Louisville Derby’ winner that year, was the name that caught the most attention as he was on his way from Latonia in northern Kentucky to Kansas City, Mo., to compete in the Kansas City Derby.

With apologies to Mark Twain, the reports of the horse’s premature death, however, were greatly exaggerated. Instead, the colt’s journey to that fateful day involved a top sire, a famed owner, and a legendary jockey, all of whom played a role in the story of a horse named Riley.

Setting the Stage 

His sire Longfellow already had both a Kentucky Oaks and Derby winner, Florimore (1887) and Leonatus (1883), when the mare Geneva foaled her bay colt at John Morrison Clay's Ashland Stud in Lexington, Ky. His breeder of record was C. H. Durkee, whose horses mostly raced in California. Durkee sold the small bay yearling, nicknamed Shortfellow because of his size, to Ed Corrigan for $950, a veritable bargain when all was said and done.

Corrigan’s name is a familiar one in racing history: not only was he the man behind Hawthorne Race Course in Chicago, but he also owned two Kentucky Oaks winners, Modesty and Lizzie Dwyer, as well as Freeland, a gelding who got the better of Hall of Famer Miss Woodford in the 1880s. The Canadian-born breeder, trainer, and owner made and lost several fortunes over his lifetime, with his racing interests spreading from coast to coast. No doubt he encountered Durkee at some point during his travels. Corrigan registered the former Shortfellow under the name Riley, after Clinton C. Riley, the editor of the Chicago edition of the Daily Racing Form and turf expert. 

Under Corrigan’s charge, Riley did most of his two-year-old racing in what was then called ‘the West,’ a designation that differentiated tracks in Kentucky, Illinois, and other states in that region from their New York counterparts. He won stakes at Nashville, Memphis, and Latonia, and by the end of 1889, was considered one of “the most promising candidates, the best of the Western two-year-olds after El Rio Rey,” according to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Louisville’s Courier-Journal echoed that sentiment, saying that “the Kentucky Derby for 1890 is thought by local turfmen to be all over, barring accidents. It is considered in turf resorts that Ed Corrigan’s Longfellow colt Riley has the valuable prize within his grasp.” 

With six wins in twelve races at two, Riley was the name on everyone’s lips as Derby Day 1890 approached, but he was going to have to contend with two potential roadblocks: a colt named Robespierre and a muddy Churchill Downs oval.

The Drama Unfolds 

Robespierre went to Louisville victorious in his three starts in 1890, while Riley was making his first start of the year in the 12-furlong Kentucky Derby. The former’s owner, George Hankins, had already won the big race with Macbeth II in 1888, so he was hoping to add another with Robespierre. Meanwhile, Corrigan had an ace up his sleeve: even though he was not 100% sure of Riley’s fitness, he brought in Isaac Murphy, the champion jockey who had already won the Derby with Buchanan in 1884, among his many prestigious victories. 

Derby Day, May 14, 1890, dawned clad in gray, sprinkles of rain still around Louisville after the previous day’s heavy rains. The weather cleared up before noon, a crowd variously reported between 10,000 and 20,000 on hand to watch a field that was scratched down to six horses. Corrigan was concerned that Riley was not quite ready for the big race, but he was still confident in his colt, even with the heavy track. Robespierre took most of the money, meeting the starter as the favorite over Riley. 

The start was clean, with Bill Letcher taking the lead from the flag drop. Murphy had his colt under wraps through the first mile and then unleashed him with a half mile to go. Riley had no trouble holding off his competition over the muddy going, winning by 1 3/4 lengths. Five days later, Riley and Murphy were back at the Louisville Jockey Club’s starting line for the 10-furlong Clark Stakes, with only Robespierre and Bill Letcher opposing him, and neither was able to get the better of the Derby winner. Riley carried off the second of the valuable stakes with ease.

By June 10, Corrigan had declined to send his colt to St. Louis for their Derby but instead opted to send him on to Kansas City for theirs. Then came the reports of the train accident in St. Louis and Riley’s name being among the horses dead in the tragic incident on Wabash Road near Warrenton, but just below that alert in some newspapers was an immediate follow-up: 

Later:
There is no truth in the report that Riley, the winner of the Kentucky Derby, was killed. The horse was not on the train.

The very much alive Riley instead went on to win other stakes in Chicago and then New York and then came back at four to win the Monmouth, the Brooklyn, and the Coney Island Cups, among other victories. Retired after his six-year-old season, Riley stood stud in Kentucky, but then was sold to William Applegate and Charles McMeekin, who moved the stallion to Oakwood Stud. 

When notice of Riley’s passing came in 1910, he was remembered as the 1890 Kentucky Derby winner and broodmare sire of Burgomaster, 1906 Belmont Stakes winner. His stint as a sire, though, was unsuccessful, and the son of Longfellow ended his days on a farm that belonged to an association charged with caring for older horses, a precursor to the aftercare programs the sport has today.