The Santa Anita Derby is a Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for 3-year-olds run every April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is currently run at a distance of one and-one-eighth miles on the dirt and carries a purse of $1 million. It is an important race in that it is one of the final prep races on the official road to the Kentucky Derby. This lot features
the exquisitely designed winner’s trophy awarded to the team of “Winning Colors” from the 1988 running of the event. In fact, shortly after the race, Winning Colors did indeed go on to win the 1988 Kentucky Derby!
The offered trophy measures just a hair under 13” tall, featuring a two-handled, gold-washed sterling silver cup that sits atop a heavy green marble base with an engraved gold-colored plaque reading: “April 9, 1988, One Mile & One-Eighth, Won By WINNING COLORS, Mr. & Mrs. Eugene V. Klein, Owner, D. Wayne Lukas, Trainer, Gary Stevens, Jockey, Time: 1:47:4.” The front of the two-handled trophy is engraved “SANTA ANITA DERBY” and those words are perfectly centered above the engraved logo of Santa Anita Park. The entire trophy including the base weighs 19 pounds; the sterling silver cup alone weighs 1,360 grams. Some tarnishing is evident inside the trophy cup as well as across the engraved plaque on the base. The
bottom is hallmarked "Sterling Silver" by "Kirk Stieff."
A special placard accompanies this trophy and reads as follows: “The Santa Anita Cup – This trophy is a reproduction of the cup presented by Queen Anne of England for the Queen Anne Race held at Newmarket in 1705 and is made exclusively for Los Angeles Turf Club, Inc. The cup is vermeil.”
Includes Letter of Provenance from the San Diego Hall of Champions.