Riley faced only five rivals in the 1890 Kentucky Derby, partly due to a muddy track and partly to the presence of favored Robespierre, the winner of the Tennessee Derby and a half brother to 1888 Derby winner Macbeth II. While Riley clearly relished the off track, he was a good, consistent performer who proved himself in some of the East's major races as well as on the “Western” circuit (a term which included racing in Kentucky, Illinois, and Tennessee). Riley was not a successful stallion.
Race record
64 starts, 30 wins, 17 seconds, 4 thirds, US$43,430
1889:
1890:
1891:
1893:
As an individual
A bay horse, Riley was small as a yearling but grew to over 16 hands. He was strongly built with plenty of substance and clean legs, though longer in the coupling than ideal. He had a long stride and appeared to be particularly effective over heavy going. He was fired at the end of his 4-year-old season, suggesting that he had developed leg trouble, and he missed most of his 5-year-old season after going lame in a workout at St. Louis in May 1892. He came back at 6 and 7 but never recovered his earlier form.
As a stallion
According to Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967, Riley sired only two stakes winners. His daughter Hurley Burley produced 1906 Belmont Stakes winner and American Horse of the Year Burgomaster, a successful sire in Chile, and was also the second dam of 1918 American Horse of the Year Johren.
Connections
Foaled at John M. Clay's Ashland Stud, Kentucky, Riley was bred by C. H. Durkee. He was owned and trained by Ed Corrigan, who bought the colt as a yearling for US$950. Green B. Morris did the training during Riley's Eastern foray as a 4-year-old. Riley began his stud career in Kentucky under Corrigan's ownership but in October 1898 was sold to W. E. Applegate and C. F. McMeekin along with a group of broodmares and moved to Oakwood Stud after a dispute with J. V. Shipp (who had been boarding Corrigan's horses and claimed Corrigan owed him US$10,000) was settled by Riley's purchasers posting a US$20,000 bond. An unsatisfactory stallion, Riley ended his days in the care of a retirement program.
Pedigree notes
Riley's pedigree is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to La Pomona, dam of 1903 Kentucky Oaks winner Lemco (by Ducat). He is also a half brother to Answer (by the Longfellow horse Lew Weir), second dam of the good juvenile filly Edna V.
Geneva, the dam of Riley, is a full sister to La Galatea, dam of 1889 Travers Stakes winner Long Dance (by Longfellow). The sisters' dam, La Gitana (by the Lexington horse Uncle Vic), was produced from the Knight of St. George mare Georgia Wood, whose dam was the Priam mare Margaret Wood. The female line traces back to an unnamed daughter of Janus (a paternal grandson of the Godolphin Arabian who also had considerable influence on the early background of the American Quarter Horse) and cannot be linked to any of the Bruce Lowe female families.
Fun facts
Race record
64 starts, 30 wins, 17 seconds, 4 thirds, US$43,430
1889:
- Won Kentucky Central Railway Stakes (USA, 8FD, Latonia)
- Won Trial Stakes (USA, 5FD, Nashville)
- Won Merchants' Stakes (USA, 5FD, Memphis)
- 2nd Kimball Stakes (USA, 6FD, Latonia)
- 2nd Gaston Hotel Stakes (USA, 4FD, Memphis)
1890:
- Won Kentucky Derby (USA, 12FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Clark Stakes (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- Won Speculation Handicap (USA, 9FD, Chicago)
- Won Fairview Lightweight Handicap (USA, 10FD, Morris Park)
- Won Pelham Bay Handicap (USA, 13FD, Morris Park)
- 2nd St. Leger Stakes (USA, 10FD, Churchill Downs)
- 2nd Latonia Derby (USA, 12FD, Latonia)
- 2nd Himyar Stakes (USA, 9FD, Latonia)
- 3rd Runnymede Handicap (USA, 10FD, Morris Park)
- 3rd Brookwood Handicap (USA, 10FD, Gravesend)
1891:
- Won Monmouth Cup (USA, 11FD, Monmouth)
- Won Shewsbury Handicap (USA, 12FD, Monmouth)
- Won Coney Island Cup (USA, 12FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Bay Ridge Handicap (USA, 12FD, Sheepshead Bay)
- Won Free Lightweight Handicap (USA, 10.5FD, Westchester)
- Won Brooklyn Cup (USA, 12FD, Gravesend)
- Won Montgomery Stakes (USA, 9FD, Memphis)
- Won a handicap sweepstakes (USA, 8.5FD, Gravesend)
- 2nd Champion Stakes (USA, 12FD, Jerome Park)
- 2nd Long Branch Handicap (USA, 10FD, Jerome Park)
- 3rd Distillers' Stakes (USA, 8FD, Lexington)
1893:
- 2nd Boulevard Stakes (USA, 8FD, Washington Park)
As an individual
A bay horse, Riley was small as a yearling but grew to over 16 hands. He was strongly built with plenty of substance and clean legs, though longer in the coupling than ideal. He had a long stride and appeared to be particularly effective over heavy going. He was fired at the end of his 4-year-old season, suggesting that he had developed leg trouble, and he missed most of his 5-year-old season after going lame in a workout at St. Louis in May 1892. He came back at 6 and 7 but never recovered his earlier form.
As a stallion
According to Clio Hogan's Index to Stakes Winners 1865-1967, Riley sired only two stakes winners. His daughter Hurley Burley produced 1906 Belmont Stakes winner and American Horse of the Year Burgomaster, a successful sire in Chile, and was also the second dam of 1918 American Horse of the Year Johren.
Connections
Foaled at John M. Clay's Ashland Stud, Kentucky, Riley was bred by C. H. Durkee. He was owned and trained by Ed Corrigan, who bought the colt as a yearling for US$950. Green B. Morris did the training during Riley's Eastern foray as a 4-year-old. Riley began his stud career in Kentucky under Corrigan's ownership but in October 1898 was sold to W. E. Applegate and C. F. McMeekin along with a group of broodmares and moved to Oakwood Stud after a dispute with J. V. Shipp (who had been boarding Corrigan's horses and claimed Corrigan owed him US$10,000) was settled by Riley's purchasers posting a US$20,000 bond. An unsatisfactory stallion, Riley ended his days in the care of a retirement program.
Pedigree notes
Riley's pedigree is outcrossed through five generations. He is a full brother to La Pomona, dam of 1903 Kentucky Oaks winner Lemco (by Ducat). He is also a half brother to Answer (by the Longfellow horse Lew Weir), second dam of the good juvenile filly Edna V.
Geneva, the dam of Riley, is a full sister to La Galatea, dam of 1889 Travers Stakes winner Long Dance (by Longfellow). The sisters' dam, La Gitana (by the Lexington horse Uncle Vic), was produced from the Knight of St. George mare Georgia Wood, whose dam was the Priam mare Margaret Wood. The female line traces back to an unnamed daughter of Janus (a paternal grandson of the Godolphin Arabian who also had considerable influence on the early background of the American Quarter Horse) and cannot be linked to any of the Bruce Lowe female families.
Fun facts
- Riley was originally named “Shortfellow,” an allusion to his small size as a youngster. His name was changed to “Riley” before he ever raced, honoring Clinton C. Riley, the longtime editor of the Chicago edition of the Daily Racing Form.
- The 1890 Kentucky Derby was the first for which rain fell on Derby Day; the track was officially described as “heavy.”
- Riley was one of three Kentucky Derby winners ridden by the great 19th-century jockey Isaac Murphy, whom many experts still consider to be the greatest American jockey of all time. Murphy's other Derby champions were Buchanan (1884) and Kingman (1891). Murphy's record of three Derby winners was not equaled until Earl Sande booted Gallant Fox home in 1930 (having previously ridden Zev and Flying Ebony in 1923 and 1925, respectively) and was not broken until Eddie Arcaro rode Citation to his fourth Kentucky Derby win in 1948.
- On June 10, 1890, Riley was erroneously reported as having been killed in a train wreck near St. Louis while being shipped from Latonia to the Kansas City meeting. Riley, very much alive, arrived at the Kansas City track for the opening day but was scratched from his target, the Kansas City Derby, due to lameness.
- In December 1893, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported that Ed Corrigan intended to ship Riley to England with the intent of racing him in the Grand National Steeplechase at Aintree in 1895. According to the Enquirer of July 23, 1894, the plan was still in effect even though Riley was already at stud. The horse was entered in the 1894 Beverwyck Steeplechase at Saratoga in preparation for the proposed English foray, but Riley did not start in that race and never went to England.
- At the time of his death, Riley was being kept by “a breeders' association formed for the purpose of taking care of aged and broken-down horses” according to the New York Times, making him the earliest known Kentucky Derby winner to have been cared for by a retirement or rescue operation in his old age.