By admin 
Sacramento’s link to Churchill Downs and Kentucky Derby history is missing from North Sacramento.
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The statue memorializing celebrated thoroughbred Ben Ali, California’s first Kentucky Derby winner, was believed stolen from its mounting in the 1900 block of Del Paso Boulevard, launching a desperate search for the bronze sculpture and whoever took it from in front of the Sacramento Youth Center.
An urgent Instagram post from the Del Paso Boulevard Business Association announced the disappearance.
“Ben Ali has been stolen from Del Paso Blvd.! The Statue of the Great Ben Ali was put in place to honor the history of Rancho Del Paso and California’s first ever Kentucky Derby Winner!,” it read. “He must be returned!”
Police confirmed the theft and said officers responded and took a report Wednesday. Officers canvassed the neighborhood and were following leads in the investigation, a spokesperson said Thursday.
Ben Ali was the prized mount of James Ben Ali Haggin, who owned of most of Rancho Del Paso in northern Sacramento County. Haggin developed a successful horse breeding farm on the sprawling expanse and at one time owned as many as 1,000 thoroughbreds.
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Haggin’s legacy, too, was etched, if not in bronze, into streets, schools and landmarks across the city: the Hagginwood and Del Paso Heights neighborhoods, Haggin Oaks Municipal Golf Course, Ben Ali School and Del Paso Boulevard, to name a few.
But history shone brightest on Ben Ali, who was trained at Rancho Del Paso and won the 12th Run for the Roses in 1886.
More than a century later, Ben Ali was honored along the boulevard in the neighborhood that bore the old rancho’s name. The bronze statue was dedicated in May 2008, fittingly during the month of the Kentucky Derby, to honor the Golden State’s first Derby champion.
But on Thursday came the news that the statue, a symbol of pride in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood, had vanished.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Sacramento police dispatchers at 916-808-5471 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the P3 Tips smartphone app, and callers may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.
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