Ben Ali (horse) him to shun the Derby. News traveled in the East Coast horse racing circuits of Haggin's treatment in Louisville, causing many Eastern horsemen to boycott the Kentucky Derby during the 1890s and early 20th century. Bookmakers returned for the 1887 Derby, but the field quality and race profits dropped dramatically over the years until Churchill Downs was facing closure in 1903. Churchill Downs was sold to a syndicate led by Matt Winn in 1903. Ben Ali is reported to have died at around 20 years of age (c. 1903) at Haggin's Rancho del Paso stud in California. Ben Ali (horse)
Is It True (horse) the Grade I Champagne Stakes, and second in a maiden race. However, in their most important meeting of 1988, run on a muddy track at Churchill Downs, Is It True defeated Easy Goer in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a little over a length, though Easy Goer won the Eclipse Award for American Champion Two Year Old Male. For owner Eugene Klein, it was his third straight win in the Juvenile. In an August 8, 2007 article, ESPN's Jeremy Plonk wrote that "Easy Goer's loss, on a muddy track at Churchill Downs, in the 1988 Juvenile to Is It True