AllMovie

The Our Gang kids set up a concession stand across the street from the local racetrack. Befriending Mary Kornman, the daughter of a wealthy horse-owner, the youngsters gain free access to the track, and thrill to the sight of a race in progress. Thus inspired, the kids set up their own track and stage their own "champeenship" race, with the youthful jockeys astride such beasts of burden as cows, goats, and donkeys, and with the action covered by a junior-grade newsreel team (grinding away with a cigar-box camera). Inevitably, the race degenerates into a comic free-for-all and a climactic chase, but not before little Allen "Farina" Hoskins crosses the finish line on his trusty tricycle. Originally released in November of 1923, Derby Day was chosen some 37 years later as the "pilot" film for The Mischief Makers, a TV package primarily comprising abbreviated Our Gang silent comedies.