I am very proud that both my girls are related to Ben Brush, the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby at its current length of 1 1/4 miles. He won the 22nd Run for the Roses and was the first to wear a blanket of white and pink roses for his efforts. Though he was small, short-legged, and long-bodied (just like my beautiful Hailee), he was very famous for his precociousness, speed, and durability, and he was a popular and successful stud. He closed his career with a record of 40: 25, 5, 5. He was inducted into the National Museum and Racing Hall of Fame in 1955. He has been so influential to modern thoroughbreds that 48 of the last 50 Derby winners trace to him, and every Derby winner since 1972 has a little Brush in their background!He was born near Paris, Kentucky and has some sociologically relevant stories to his heritage! His sire was Bramble who was claimed to be "a breed as tough as pine nuts." He was bought at age 2 by Hall of Fame trainer, Ed Brown, and a partner. Ed Brown was an African American born in slavery and when he was 7, his owner sold him to the Woodburn Stud where he worked as a groom and displayed his talents for horsebreeding. He won the Belmont Stakes as a jockey, trained a Kentucky Derby winning horse, and owned many important race horses over his life, thus winning his spot in the Hall of Fame. Anyway, he decided to name Ben Brush after the superintendent of race tracks in New York City, which was a brilliant idea because of the scarce stall space. Conveniently, Ben Brush always had a stall available to him. When other owners and trainers complained, the human Ben Brush snapped, "Not a damn one of you fellows ever named a horse Ben Brush!"
He was sold to the famous gambler, Mike Dwyer, and then ridden to Derby victory by another Hall of Famer, the African-American Willie Simms. He still is the only African-American to win the Derby (twice), Preakness, and Belmont (twice). He is the only African-American to win all three jewels of the triple crown.
My girls are proud to claim him through his child, Sweep, and through the sires he generated, Broomstick and Whiskbroom!
You can read more about this sweet champion at the following links:
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/BenBrush.html
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Brush
or
http://www.racingmuseum.org/hall/horse.asp?ID=28
or
http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/bluegrass-ballads/bluegrass-ballads%20-%200120.htm
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_D._Brown
or
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Simms