Derby 1933: Jockeys Battle It Out
Meade and Fisher Provide Theatrics: Broker's Tip Beats Head Play
Head Play, favored in the 1933 Kentucky Derby, may have lost because of his jockey's head play at the wire. Broker's Tip got his only win; Idle Hour its 4th Derby.
America was in the middle of its worst economic depression. The 1933 Kentucky Derby runner-up was sadly given up before the race was run, sold for $30,000 because his trainer-owner desperately needed the money.
There was little interest in the coming Derby. No horse had become a fan favorite. The best anyone could do to pump up the annual event was raise expectations for a racing war between the East and the West. From the West came Head Play, a Kentucky horse, while the East promoted Ladysman.
But the horses would not be of primary interest in this Derby. Rather, the jockeys took center stage when two of them literally grabbed and pulled at each other and each other's mount, creating a rider's war in the stretch. Jockey Herb Fisher, a British-Canadian of twenty-two, with the ride on Broker's Tip, and Don Meade, an eighteen-year-old Californian aboard Head Play, became riding combatants.
Head Play Had A Potential Edge
Head Play was a chestnut colt bred from Man o' War's brother Mad Play. Willie Crump, a former jockey turned trainer, took on the colt's schooling as his owner, as well, when the intended buyers backed out of the yearling's sale. As a two-year-old, Head Play did well enough, taking wins in the Hawthorne Juvenile and the Latonia's Cincinnati Trophy. At three, he vanquished seven of the Derby entrants in the Preparation Purse, an early version of the Derby Trial.
Broker's Tip was less advertised, but was owned by Colonel E.R. Bradley's stable, Idle Hour Stock Farm, which had Derby trophies from 1921 (Behave Yourself), 1926 (Bubbling Over), and 1932 (Burgoo King). Broker's Tip had shown ability in several races, finishing third to Head Play in a juvenile event, and second in Lexington's Prospect Purse earlier in his sophomore season, but he entered the Derby not yet having broken his maiden.
Derby day die-hards would get a look at some prominent dignitaries, whose attendance, it was hoped by racing officials, might boost the sport's financial distress by attracting a larger, newer crowd.
Trouble Started Early
Thirteen runners filled the starting gate, an invention now routinely in place for thoroughbred racing. There was trouble from the start, however. The crack of a whip startled several horses, some quick chaos ensued, and jockeys and handlers scrambled to bring entrants under control.
When all came to order, Isaiah and Good Advice took the lead from the gate. Head Play and Ladysman were close behind, and Broker's Tip traveled down the outside as the field fanned out.
Fisher swerved Head Play away from the soft going at the rail and the colt pushed Charley O. sideways. Broker's Tip kept pace with the other two as the stretch loomed ahead. Charley O. fell away.
Jockeys Engage In Battle
As Broker's Tip and Head Play fought through the final three-sixteenths of the stretch, both jockeys engaged in grabbing at one another's equipment and each other. The only photo of the event, shot by Wallace Lowry for the Louisville Times and The Courier-Journal did not reveal who started the struggle.
Later, a newsreel of the "Fighting Finish" suggested Fisher got the first grab in and Meade defended himself. Years later, Meade said Fisher's reins were dangling as he fought off Meade's defense. Thus, Head Play had no guided finish. The loose reins allowed Broker's Tip to get the only win of his career as he edged ahead of a basically riderless Head Play at the wire.
Controversy raged for years after the event. Always of second note was the fact that the Bradley stable had won a record fourth Kentucky Derby.
