PBOTD: 3rd May, Isabel McLennan McMeekin - Kentucky Derby Winner

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Today is Kentucky Derby Day, and to celebrate that, here's the story of Jackie Spratt. He buys a share in a racehorse: Aristides, and helps to train him while a new race course is being built at the Churchill's Farm. A new race is also being planned: the Kentucky Derby, and you can guess what happens.

Grosset & Dunlap
This is a true story. Aristides won the first Kentucky Derby, which was held in 1875. Aristides was supposed to be the pace setter for his stablemate and half brother, Chesapeake, but Chesapeake never looked like catching Aristides up, and Aristides won by a length. Chesapeake finished in eighth place.

The book was part of Grosset and Dunlap's Famous Horses series. Their definition of what constituted a famous horse was quite wide: although real horses do figure, there's a fair share of fictional ones.

Kentucky Derby Winner was first published by D McKay in 1949, and was illustrated by Corinne Dillon. Grosset and Dunlap published their edition in 1955.

For more on the author, see her page on my website.

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