Ben Brush (1893–1918) was a high class Thoroughbred racehorse and sire who won the 1896 Kentucky Derby. He was a bay stallion by Bramble (1879 champion handicap horse) out of Roseville (a sister to Azra, the 1892 Kentucky Derby and Travers Stakes winner) by Reform. Ben Brush was bred at Runnymead Farm.
Walter Vosburgh said Bramble was "a breed as tough as pine nuts." On May 6, 1896, Bramble and Roseville's son Ben Brush was the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby at its modern distance of 1¼ miles. (Since its inception in 1875, the Derby had been staged over 1½ miles, the length of the original Derby at Epsom Downs in England.) It was the 22nd running of the Derby and the first to drape a blanket of white and pink roses over the shoulders of the victor.
Read more about Ben Brush: At Stud
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