SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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CITATION
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxDSsqy02XY
Eddie Arcaro, who won 5 Derbys, 6 Preaknesses, 6 Belmonts and 2 Triple Crowns, called Citation the greatest horse he ever rode. He was owned and bred by Calumet Farms in Kentucky and trained by Ben Jones and his son Jimmy. Arcaro almost didn’t get the ride. The chosen jockey, Al Snyder, had gone fishing in the Florida Keys, got caught in a storm and drowned a month before the Derby. Arcaro, a friend of Snyder’s, gave his winning purse to Snyder’s widow.
Citation, in 45 starts, had a record of 32-10-2/ He was the first horse to win 16 major stakes races in a row, a record broken by Zenyatta 60 years later. He was also the first horse to win $1 million in purses. I remember growing up in the 60’s hearing Citation’s name mentioned with nearly the reverence we now give to Secretariat, because he was the last Triple Crown winner at that point. But his image has faded a bit since.
Citation was the last Triple Crown winner for a quarter century. Then, as now, the thinking was that maybe the Triple Crown was a thing of the past: that it couldn’t be won because there was just too much competition. In 1949 Capot won two of the three races, then Middleground in 1950, then Native Dancer in 1953, then Nashua in 1955, then Needles in 1956, Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Chateaugay in 1963, Northern Dancer in 1964, Kauai King in 1966, Damascus in 1967, Forward Pass in 1968, Majestic Prince in 1969, Canonero II in 1971 and Riva Ridge in 1972. And then….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxDSsqy02XY
Eddie Arcaro, who won 5 Derbys, 6 Preaknesses, 6 Belmonts and 2 Triple Crowns, called Citation the greatest horse he ever rode. He was owned and bred by Calumet Farms in Kentucky and trained by Ben Jones and his son Jimmy. Arcaro almost didn’t get the ride. The chosen jockey, Al Snyder, had gone fishing in the Florida Keys, got caught in a storm and drowned a month before the Derby. Arcaro, a friend of Snyder’s, gave his winning purse to Snyder’s widow.
Citation, in 45 starts, had a record of 32-10-2/ He was the first horse to win 16 major stakes races in a row, a record broken by Zenyatta 60 years later. He was also the first horse to win $1 million in purses. I remember growing up in the 60’s hearing Citation’s name mentioned with nearly the reverence we now give to Secretariat, because he was the last Triple Crown winner at that point. But his image has faded a bit since.
Citation was the last Triple Crown winner for a quarter century. Then, as now, the thinking was that maybe the Triple Crown was a thing of the past: that it couldn’t be won because there was just too much competition. In 1949 Capot won two of the three races, then Middleground in 1950, then Native Dancer in 1953, then Nashua in 1955, then Needles in 1956, Tim Tam in 1958, Carry Back in 1961, Chateaugay in 1963, Northern Dancer in 1964, Kauai King in 1966, Damascus in 1967, Forward Pass in 1968, Majestic Prince in 1969, Canonero II in 1971 and Riva Ridge in 1972. And then….
