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The run for the roses. The most exciting two minutes in sports. Tomorrow is the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, arguably the most important thoroughbred race of the year.
One of the reasons the first jewel of the Triple Crown has become so important is its role as kingmaker. From Citation to Affirmed, many of the greatest horses of all time came to the world’s attention at the Kentucky Derby.
Secretariat runs the fastest Derby ever
Secretariat was famous even before he won the Triple Crown and he was the favorite to win for the Derby. But the horse known as Big Red lost his final race before the Kentucky Derby, so there were some questions. But not for long.
The 13-horse Derby shaped up as a duel between Secretariat and Sham. The two held back early — Secretariat at the rear; Sham just off the lead. Then Laffit Pincay moved Sham to the front just before the final turn. Turcotte moved Secretariat to the outside to close on Sham, who was picking up steam.
“I didn’t think anybody would be able to catch him,” Pincay said of Sham. “I knew we were going to win.”Secretariat had other ideas. He caught Sham halfway down the stretch and won by 2 1/2 lengths in a world-record time of 1:59 2/5, the only Derby winner to crack two minutes.
Secretariat went on to win the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes, which he won by 31 lengths. That week Big Red made the cover of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated—the first and last time that ever happened.
The Undefeated: Seattle Slew
Seattle Slew was the favorite to win the Derby at 50 cents on the dollar. Until the Derby, the three-year-old had taken the lead from the get go at every race he started. But the Derby was different.
When the gates opened, Slew emerged off balance, swerved to the right and collided with Get The Axe. But he kept his feet, and straightened out. After a quarter mile, he was in second place behind. At the mile post, Seattle Slew assumed command and never looked back. He won by 1 3/4 lengths. When Seattle Slew won the Belmont a month later, he become the 10th horse to gain the Triple Crown and the first to win the Triple Crown without ever losing. He ended his career with a record of 14 wins and 2 seconds from 17 starts and over $1.2 million in earnings.
Affirmed wins the Belmont
Affirmed was part of one of the sport’s greatest rivalries. His competition, Alydar, was a thoroughbred with a distinguished pedigree while Affirmed had a more modest background. The pair met as two-year-olds and although Affirmed bested his rival 4-2 by the time the Derby rolled around, Alydar was the favorite thanks to his looks.
Affirmed and Alydar came in first and second respectively for the crown’s first two jewels. But the bigger and stronger Alydar remained the favorite among some of the ink-stained wretches of the press leading into the Belmont Stakes. It was a helluva race.
Affirmed had the heart of a lion. Caught and pressed by his bigger, stronger rival, they raced as a team for the last mile. In the stretch, Alydar poked his neck in front while pinning his rival to the rail. Seemingly the Triple Crown had evaded the deserving Affirmed. But in a showing of extraordinary courage, Affirmed again reached down for all he had, and pulled back to his rival. With 100 yards left, with Cauthen whipping vigorously from the left side, Affirmed was back nose to nose with Alydar. Finally, while pushing forward with every vestige of his remaining strength, he got his nose in front and kept it there. The Triple Crown was his.
Affirmed’s Triple Crown win was 30 years ago. No horse has taken the crown since.
Exterminator wins the Derby
Some of the most exciting races occur when longshots take the prize as Exterminator did in the 1918 Kentucky Derby.
Known as the Galloping Hat Rack or Old Bones, Exterminator wasn’t much to look at. And no one expected much from him; owner Willis Sharpe Kilmer had put all his Derby hopes on Sun Briar. In fact, Sharpe bought the gelding to work out with Sun Briar as he prepared for the Derby. When Sun Briar was injured before the big race, Kilmer ran the horse he referred to as “that truck horse” because he had no other prospects.
At odds of 30-1, the fans didn’t think much of him either; he hadn’t run a race for a year. But after hanging with the back of the pack for most of the race, Exterminator picked up the pace at the turn for home, winning by a length.
Exterminator went on to become one of the great iron horses of all time, carrying weights as high as 140 pounds over distances of up to 2 1/4 miles and winning 50 percent of his races until he retired at age 9.
Many of the greatest horses in history won the Derby as three-year olds. But even horses with less than stellar careers who win the Derby become part of racing history.
Giacomo wins the Derby
The second biggest longshot in Derby history–1913’s finisher Donerail was 91.45-1–Giacomo rallied from well back in the pack to grab the lead in the final strides, winning by a half length over Closing Argument, himself a 71-1 long shot. Afleet Alex, the 4-1 second choice in the race, finished another half length back in third. The Derby was the high point of the horse’s career.
The Derby’s not the only important race in the country, let alone the world.
Man o’ War is credited with saving the sport of racing, which had been made illegal by many states earlier in the decade and failed to recapture the public’s attention because of World War I. Man o’ War won the Preakness and the Belmont as a three year old, but he didn’t win the Derby because he wasn’t in it; his owner didn’t want to damage the horse’s “soft bones.” Considered one of the greatest horses of all time, Man o’ War retired after three years with a 20-1 record.
Sea Biscuit v. War Admiral
Man o’ War’s son went on to become the loser in one of the greatest match races of all time. On November 1, 1938 Triple Crown winner and reigning Horse of the Year War Admiral met the people’s horse, Seabiscuit, at Pimlico.
War Admiral was the clear favorite, at 1-4 odds, because of his speed at the gate.
Winner of 16 of his last 17 starts, War Admiral was a master at controlling the pace at any distance, dooming his rivals into playing catchup with a fresh horse. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, generally came from well off the pace. True, he held at least six track records plus another that he shared, but there is a single strategy in a match race: make the other horse crack. You have to be able to run with him or make him come to you. Here, War Admiral had the distinct advantage.
But Seabiscuit’s owner had been training him in secret to run against type with a whip and a bell in hopes the the the horse would come out of the gate quickly. He didn’t disappoint. Seabiscuit won by four lengths in track record time and was named Horse of the Year.
Red Rum wins the Grand National, 1973
The only horse to win England’s great steeplechase race three times, Red Rum’s first outing was astonishing. Australian-born Crisp looked like he couldn’t lose; he was at least 20 lengths ahead when the two turned for home. But all of a sudden Crisp visibly tires and Red Rum pulls ahead, winning the race by three-quarters of a length.
Phar Lap wins the Agua Caliente Handicap, 1932
Like Seabiscuit, Phar Lap was an unprepossessing Depression-era horse with whom the public fell in love. The bookies, however, didn’t like the horse and one of them allegedly tried to shoot him. Australia’s Wonder Horse won 37 of 51 races he entered and 14 in a row in both 1930 and 1931.
The Agua Caliente Handicap was his last race. Phar Lap won the largest purse in North America in track-record time while carrying 129 pounds, overcoming a hoof injury and his inexperience with a dirt track. But two weeks later the horse was dead, felled by a mysterious illness that some attribute to poison.
Greyhound wins the 1935 Hambletonian
The Trotter of the Century won harness racing’s Kentucky Derby in 1935, a performance that stamped Greyhound as a world champion. Greyhound came from 15 lengths behind to win the race’s second heat by five lengths. In the first heat, Greyhound came up from last in the backstretch to win by a neck.
In 1938, he set the trotting record at a mile in 1:55 and 1/4, a record that stood for 31 years. He trotted 25 two-minute miles and at one time held fourteen world records.
Arkle v Mill House in the Cheltenham Gold Cup
This was a matter of national pride, with Arkle representing Ireland and Mill House England. Mill House was the 8 to 13 favourite, Arkle was 7 to 4. Mill House was out in front early, but Arkle was on top going to the last. The Irish horse drew away to win by five lengths. Arkle and Mill House met three more times with Arkle winning every time.
Grundy v Bustino at the King George & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes
Half a mile from home, Bustino sprinted a full three lengths away from Grundy. And a quarter mile later, Grundy looked spent. Then the big horse put his head down and drew level with Bustino. They were head to head for a few seconds when Grundy moved ahead by half a length and then crossed three full three lengths ahead of his rival, with a track record of 2 minutes and 26.98 seconds.
Horse races can be heartbreaking as well as thrilling. In 2006, Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro fractured three bones in his right hind leg shortly after the start of the race. The accident ended the colt’s racing career, but millions were hopeful about Barbaro after doctors successfully operated on the leg. It was not to be, after five more surgeries, Barbaro was euthanized in January 2007 after developing a disease in her front legs.
Bayakoa and Go For Wand in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff
The 2-year-old Go For Wand, and the mare Bayakoa, had won it all for their respective generations. To determine the best filly in the land, however, they would have to meet. The stage was set for that meeting on Breeders’ Cup world championship day, to be held at Belmont Park.
Go for Wand was flying down the homestretch stride for stride with Bayakoa, when her right front ankle snapped and she fell just short of the finish line. Then Go for Wand struggled to her feet, trying to finish the race. Instead she wobbled across the track and collapsed. She was buried the next night at Saratoga.
Ruffian v. Foolish Pleasure
She was the queen of the track who set or equaled a new stakes record in every one of the eight stakes races she won. She raced at distances from 5 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/2 miles with an average winning margin of 8 1/3 lengths, always out ahead.
Then the winner of the Filly Triple Crown entered a match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure, her first race against a colt. But the Great Match, as it was called, ended badly.
Ruffian was in front by half a length when the sesamoid bones in her right foreleg snapped. Her jockey tried to pull her up, but the filly wouldn’t stop. She kept on running, tearing her ligaments, until her hoof was flopping. She was known for her incredible love of running and unwillingness to lose. She had never before been behind in a race.
