Description
The hot favourite for the 1934 Derby was Colombo, the previous season’s brilliant two year old, who had already scored in the 2000 Guineas. Colombo’s jockey, W R Johnstone, rode an ill-judged race and he only came third. The winner was Windsor Lad, a colt who had been slow to mature, but having gained his strength showed the other runners a clean pair of heels around the tight turns of Chester and in a race at Newmarket in his two contests before the Derby. His Derby win was as fast as that of Hyperion the year before.
At the end of 1934, and now owned by the book-maker Mr Martin Benson (who was said to have paid £50,000 for him), Windsor Lad took the St Leger in a time which has not been bettered to this day. The horse looked better than ever as a four-year-old and was unbeaten, concluding his career by winning the Eclipse Stakes in which he broke down. At stud, he was never a well horse, having developed severe sinus trouble. Insurance wrangles had prolonged his life for far too long before he was destroyed in 1943.
