Ralph Bullock (jockey) 1861 Derby, which he won on Kettledrum for owner Charles Townley. The Epsom course itself had been badly neglected and was strewn with rubbish on the day of the race. In the event, Kettledrum was a luck winner. The favourite, Dundee, ridden by Henry Custance looked like he would win easily at Tattenham Corner, but eighty yards from the winning post, the horse broke down badly on both forelegs and Kettledrum won by a neck. Bullock would also finish second in the Oaks on Lady Ripon. Riding Kettledrum in the Doncaster Cup later that year, he scored a memorable dead
Pioneer Race Course third round, Hunt was shot in the abdomen and died. In October 1854, the race course was the site of the stock show at the first California State Fair. From 1862 until 1863 (some sources report 1865) the site of the course served a civil war encampment called Camp Alert for the 2nd California Cavalry, before they moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. The course was the site of a celebration of the completion of the San Francisco-San Jose Railway in October 1863, and for a time also served as the railway's San Francisco station. The positioning of the course,