2 out of 3: Second and Third: Damascus to Afleet Alex

[SWC75]

DAMASCUS

Damascus was a Kentucky-bred horse and 1967’s “Horse of the Year”. His owner was Edith Bancroft, the daughter of William Woodward Sr. Frank Whiteley was the trainer and Willie Shoemaker the jockey. The horse finished third in the 1967 Kentucky Derby, according to Wikipedia because he was “a high-strung horse, the humidity depleted him and the noise of the crowd spooked him; he was given a stable pony thereafter to calm him down.”. He then went to win the Preakness and the Belmont and several other top races. In 32 races he was an impressive 21-7-3, his one finish out of the money coming when he bowed a tendon in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, finishing last. He set several track records and won several races by large margins, one by 22 lengths and another by 10 lengths over a field that included Buckpasser and Dr, Fager. Bloodhorse ranked Damascus the #16 US race horse of the 20th century.

The Derby:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ebpnxtLY4k

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HpvuTaGaY4

I don’t have the Belmont but here is Damascus winning the Traver’s Stakes by 22 lengths:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWGOzCcR2wQ


Damascus and Dr. Fager, (who still holds the world mile record), met four times:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8frxLao1bM

　
LITTLE CURRENT
John W. Galbraith owned the Pittsburgh Pirates but he was also a noted racehorse owner. He owned the Darby Dan farm in Ohio, which produced several champion race horses. Perhaps the best was Little Current, who almost won the Triple Crown the year after Secretariat, (1974).
He was foaled in Kentucky, son of the famous Sea Bird, the highest rated horse in European history and named after the town where the Galbraiths had their summer home. Lou Rondinello was the trainer. He had a series of jockeys: Angel Cordero Jr., Miguel Rivera and Bobby Ussery. Cordero was the first but was riding Cannonade in the Derby, who won, finishing 5 lengths ahead of Little Current under Ussery. Rondinello was absent due to surgery and Little Current got caught up in a large field of 23 horses, (a rule was subsequently passed limiting the field to no more than 20 horses.)

Rivera took over for the Preakness and the Belmont and won both races. In both races, Rivera kept him back in the pack until the end, when he sprinted along the rail to win. Sea Bird’s greatest wins, the Epsom Derby and the L’Arc de’Triomphe, had been at a mile and a half and he was better suited to the Belmont than most horses. Unfortunately he chipped a bone in his right front ankle and was retired to stud after that race. He went onto along life for a horse, living until 2003 and siring 35 stakes winners. His racing record was only 4-3-1 in 16 races, possibly because they kept changing jockeys.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHjD1IOEn3o
There was not only the largest field ever, (it looked more like The Charge of the Light Brigade than the Kentucky derby) but after Secretariat’s TC’s the previous year, interest in horse racing was at such an all-time high that they had a crowd of 163,000 at Churchill Downs, the largest ever for a horse race.
U-Tube doesn’t have the Preakness but here’s the Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YbDnA7AKAY


RISEN STAR
Risen Star was a Louisiana horse sired by Secretariat. His owners were Ronnie Lamarque and Louie Roussel III, who was also his trainer. His jockey was Eddie Delahoussaye. He was lightly raced as a two year old. In the 1988 Kentucky Derby, a “rabbit” horse named Winning Colors took the lead. The jockeys on the other horses refused to let their mounts go after him, expecting him to fade, which he never did. Risen Star was forced outside down the stretch and finished third. He then won the Preakness by a length and half and the Belmont by 14 lengths, which brought back memories of his sire. He, too retired after the Belmont with an injury and a record of 8-2-1 in 11 races.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykEb2qZ-aDA

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b66OntWOa2Q


The Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhqFUQtaWkI&feature=related
“Just like his Daddy”
　
HANSEL
Hansel was a product of the Lazy Lane Farm in Virginia, owned at the time by Joe Lewis Allbritton. (He sold Hansel to the Emir of Dubai in September, 1991). His trainer was Frank L. Brothers and the jockey was Jerry Bailey.
After some wins as a two year old and early in the year, Hansel was the favorite for the 1991 Derby but tired badly and finished 10th. Brothers wanted to rest him for the Preakness and wait for the Belmont but after a good workout and a consultation with his mentor, Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, he decided to try the Preakness, which Hansel won by 7 lengths. Hansel had been using lasix to stop bleeding through the nose, which as banned in New York so he was not the favorite for the Belmont but won it anyway, by a head. After the sale to the Emir, he was retired to stud with a record of 7-2-3 in 14 races.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATgn_HEGVq0

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G26DP5MVpuk


The Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtWq-OB4a5k&feature=related
　
TABASCO CAT
Tabasco Cat was Kentucky horse co-owned by Overbrook Stables and Reynolds Aluminum Chairman David Reynolds. His trainer was D. Wayne Lukas and his jockey Pat Day. He was an excitable horse and charged Lukas’ son Jeff in his stall, knocking him down and fracturing his skull. The odds on him in the 1994 Derby were 9-1, ranking him third as a favorite. A horse named Go for Gin forced him into another horse coming out of the gate and then went on to win the race. Tabasco Cat rallied to get close to the leaders but faded to 6th at the finish. He went on to win the Preakness and Belmont, Go for Gin finishing second in each. He retired with a record of 8-3-2 in 18 races and went on to sire 21 stakes winners.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIDjueaVvqQ

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_8ElpNT7l8

The Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXBBIIpxB-k
(This is more than just the race: it lasts 23 minutes)

POINT GIVEN
Point Given was a Kentucky horse bred and owned by a corporation- “The Thoroughbred Corporation”. The principle owner of The Thoroughbred Corporation and thus of Point Given was Prince Ahmed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia. Bob Baffert was the trainer and Gary Stevens the jockey. In 13 races, he had a record of 9-3-0.
Steven’s work in the 2001 Kentucky Derby has been the cause of some controversy, especially because of what followed. The pace of the Derby was fast and Point Given was a horse who had to pick his spots and Stevens may have pushed the horse to keep up with the pace. He faded to fifth. Point Given then won the Preakness by 2 ½ lengths. Derby winner Monarchos finished 6th. Point Given then crushed the field by 12 ¼ lengths in the Belmont, making it clear who was the horse of the year. But he wasn’t the Triple Crown winner. He was subsequently syndicated for $50 million and his stud fee is $30,000. Point Given.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9QdWOR9XW8

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oD4N-3gqP24

The Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pic4Oj1G0GE
　
　

AFLEET ALEX
Afleet Alex is a Florida horse owned by “Cash is King” Stable. The five different owners were honest about their intentions and Afleet Alex, for the most part, didn‘t disappoint them. He was trained by Tim Ritchey and ridden by Jeremy Rose.
Alex had problems from the beginning. Shortly after he was foaled his mother became ill and couldn’t nurse him so Ritchie’s nine-year-old daughter Lauren fed him using a Coors Light bottle. Despite a lung infection that caused him to finish last in one race, he won three races as a two year old and two more leading to the 2005 Kentucky Derby.
He was one of the favorites for the Derby and ran well but finished 3rd. At the Preakness, at the beginning of the stretch run, disaster was narrowly averted as another horse, Scrappy T, veered into Afleet Alex’s path and they clipped heels. The momentum sent Rose falling over Alex’s neck. The Horse nearly went to his knees and his nose was almost in the dirt. But Alex rose and put on one of the great stretch runs, winning by almost five lengths. He then blew away the field by 7 lengths to win the Belmont. A hairline fracture of his left front ankle left Alex with a 8-2-1 in 12 career starts.
The Derby:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTkjiEZEPdE

The Preakness:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfFzODoD7YY


The Belmont:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfZoo4_kESY


Again, looking at the stories of the horse that failed to win the Derby but won the Preakness and Belmont, I’m impressed with not the impossibility of winning another Triple Crown but how possible it would be.

 

[br801]

RISEN STAR
Risen Star was a Louisiana horse sired by Secretariat. His owners were Ronnie Lamarque and Louie Roussel III, who was also his trainer. His jockey was Eddie Delahoussaye. He was lightly raced as a two year old. In the 1988 Kentucky Derby, a “rabbit” horse named Winning Colors took the lead. The jockeys on the other horses refused to let their mounts go after him, expecting him to fade, which he never did. Risen Star was forced outside down the stretch and finished third. He then won the Preakness by a length and half and the Belmont by 14 lengths, which brought back memories of his sire. He, too retired after the Belmont with an injury and a record of 8-2-1 in 11 races.

Great series SWC75, as always.

I did want to correct what you wrote about Winning Colors above. Winning Colors, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, was actually a filly. She did run her races on the lead, but she was no one's rabbit. She entered the Kentucky Derby after dominating colts in the Santa Anita Derby, so her Kentucky Derby win was by no means shocking. The question with her was whether she could last 1 1/4 miles against the top colts entered in the Kentucky Derby. When she was able to establish a relatively unpressured lead, she had enough left to hold off Forty Niner, a fine colt trained by Woody Stephens who would go on to win the Travers at Saratoga later that summer. Winning Colors would go on to finish third in the Preakness and then return to facing horses of her own sex, and ultimately wind up in the Racing Hall of Fame.

 

[SWC75]

Great series SWC75, as always.

I did want to correct what you wrote about Winning Colors above. Winning Colors, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, was actually a filly. She did run her races on the lead, but she was no one's rabbit. She entered the Kentucky Derby after dominating colts in the Santa Anita Derby, so her Kentucky Derby win was by no means shocking. The question with her was whether she could last 1 1/4 miles against the top colts entered in the Kentucky Derby. When she was able to establish a relatively unpressured lead, she had enough left to hold off Forty Niner, a fine colt trained by Woody Stephens who would go on to win the Travers at Saratoga later that summer. Winning Colors would go on to finish third in the Preakness and then return to facing horses of her own sex, and ultimately wind up in the Racing Hall of Fame.

I may have misunderstood what "rabbit" means, although I know what "filly" means.

 

[br801]

I may have misunderstood what "rabbit" means, although I know what "filly" means.

The strict definition of a "rabbit" is a horse entered solely to set a fast pace in order to compromise the chances of other early speed horses and thereby help a late-running stablemate. It doesn't always work out that way, of course. Sometimes the "rabbit" fails to get the lead, or leads only briefly, and doesn't really impact the race. And occasionally, the "rabbit" proves to be better than anyone expects, gets the lead and never gives it up.

Getting back to Winning Colors, it's worth checking out her race in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff, where she was facing Personal Ensign, another Hall of Fame filly. The 4 year-old Personal Ensign was attempting to complete an undefeated career and looked hopelessly beaten over a muddy track she appeared to dislike. Somehow she was able to mount a late rally and catch Winning Colors at the wire. It's one of the great finishes in racing history and Tom Durkin provides one his finest race calls.

 

[KelVarnson]

Afleet Alex was so much better than his competition that year. Even in the derby he had one of the absolute worst trips imaginable and was still able to close and finish 3rd. I am still convinced that he was the most legitimate triple crown threat in recent memory rather than big brown, smarty jones, funny cide, etc...

 

[SWC75]

The strict definition of a "rabbit" is a horse entered solely to set a fast pace in order to compromise the chances of other early speed horses and thereby help a late-running stablemate. It doesn't always work out that way, of course. Sometimes the "rabbit" fails to get the lead, or leads only briefly, and doesn't really impact the race. And occasionally, the "rabbit" proves to be better than anyone expects, gets the lead and never gives it up.

Getting back to Winning Colors, it's worth checking out her race in the 1988 Breeders' Cup Distaff, where she was facing Personal Ensign, another Hall of Fame filly. The 4 year-old Personal Ensign was attempting to complete an undefeated career and looked hopelessly beaten over a muddy track she appeared to dislike. Somehow she was able to mount a late rally and catch Winning Colors at the wire. It's one of the great finishes in racing history and Tom Durkin provides one his finest race calls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leading_Thoroughbred_racehorses