Best Horse Not to Win the Derby

[westcoastinvader]

Originally Posted by Linny

Not a bro to Secretariat but Round Table's sire Princequillo was Sec's broodmare sire.

Thanks, it's nice to know someone is reading a Californian's posts at 1:00AM Eastern Time....


I have a signed and numbered portrait (I love) of Secretariat to my left in this room, noting Princequillo in his immediate lineage. I erroneously jumped to the "brother" conclusion upon also noting Princequillo with Round Table and his lineage.

Thanks for the good catch.


And, sincere thanks for the stats on Round Table.


Very impressive.

[jpops757]

Cigar belongs somewhere in the top 10.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by jpops757

Cigar belongs somewhere in the top 10.

It is limited to horses who ran in the Derby.Otherwise Man O War would top the list and Native Dancer,Alydar,Bold Ruler and Easy Goer would be the only horses considered on the current list.

[jpops757]

OOPS my bad.

[Port Conway Lane]

Coaltown should be in the top five.

[Thunder Gulch]

How about Damascus? No way he's not near the top of that list.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by Thunder Gulch

How about Damascus? No way he's not near the top of that list.

Good one. More evidence that the list is flawed.

[deltagulf]

best 3 yr old in 1988 was risen star finish 4th in derby. i believe a better ride by eddie d. and his chance of winning the derby and triple crown.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Linny

Not a bro to Secretariat but Round Table's sire Princequillo was Sec's broodmare sire.

I never saw him run either but I have studied him using various histories, including DRF's Champions which is a wonderful compilation. Round Table was an exceptional racer and a very good sire. He was an outstanding broodmare sire.

Round Table won 43 of 66 starts on the east and west coasts. He won major races on dirt and turf. He was a stakes winning 2yo in 1956 and was second in his final career start, the JCGC at 2 miles in late 1959, to Sword Dancer. At 3 he raced 22 times with 15 wins! One of those wins was the Hollywood Gold Cup on July 13th against his elders. In fact, his first start after his third in the Derby (in front of Bold Ruler) was a close2nd in the Californian against older.

He won from 4 to 13 furlongs and carried weight. He sired 83 stakes winners in an era when 30 or so mares was a full book.

he was also an incredibly sound racehorse, almost no breaks in his racing career. most consider him the best turf horse ever produced in the america. and he was fantastic on dirt as well.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Thunder Gulch

How about Damascus? No way he's not near the top of that list.

problem is, they wanted to include modern horses on the list, so it's already a flawed poll.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Give me an hour and I can come up with 100 better than Curlin. How about Forego ( 4th to Secretariat )? Skip Away for sure. Bet Twice?

What exactly did Afleet Alex do to show he was better than Curlin?

You could put a blanket over the last 4 they chose. I certainly would have used Forego and Skip Away in the top 10.

[HaloWishingwell]

Dont know if he was mentioned but 4th in the 1973 Derby to SECRETARIAT was a horse called FOREGO......I think he was ok

[Linny]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

Thanks, it's nice to know someone is reading a Californian's posts at 1:00AM Eastern Time....


I have a signed and numbered portrait (I love) of Secretariat to my left in this room, noting Princequillo in his immediate lineage. I erroneously jumped to the "brother" conclusion upon also noting Princequillo with Round Table and his lineage.

Thanks for the good catch.


And, sincere thanks for the stats on Round Table.


Very impressive.

Extra cup of coffee for the 3 hr drive home from Aqueduct had me up all night.

[letswastemoney]

Best Pal had a pretty good career after the Triple Crown was over. He should be up there.

[eajinabi]

I could say Easy Goer and Skip Away

[Sightseek]

Arts and Letters wasn't mentioned either.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

Arts and Letters wasn't mentioned either.

neither was dancer's image.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by DaHoss9698

neither was Monba

[Kasept]

These are from my Triple Crown near-miss piece from a few years ago... before I became a talking head and actually wrote.

http://www.derbytrail.com/wp/?p=163

1940 — BIMELECH

Certainly no “near miss” Crown candidate was better bred than Col. Bradley’s bay colt, the last foal sired by Idle Hour Farm’s transcendent Black Toney and nursed by none other than La Troienne. The full brother to 1935 Champion filly Black Helen, Bimelech was a foregone conclusion in the months leading up to the Derby, installed as a 3-1 winter book favorite. Perfect in six starts at two, Bimelech did not begin his sophomore campaign until late April when he showed up at Keeneland to swipe the Blue Grass. After the race, Idle Hour manager Olin Gentry was advised by famed Calumet conditioner Ben Jones that Bimelech was a certain Derby winner if his next start would be the first Saturday in May. But trainer Bill Hurley, arrogantly proclaiming Bimelech “an iron horse”, started the juvenile champ five days later in the Derby Trial which he won over the good Gallahadion. Three days later, in his third start in eight days, Gallahadion upset Bimelech (2-5) by 1.5 lengths, denying Bradley a fifth Derby winner. Preakness and Belmont wins followed, as did a brilliant stud career, but the lost opportunity of becoming the fourth Triple Crown winner forever dogs the Hall of Famer.


1953 — NATIVE DANCER

Made an equine celebrity through the burgeoning vehicle of television and a juvenile campaign of nine perfect starts, the “Grey Ghost” entered his second year as the “People’s Choice” for Derby heroics. But in a career that will likely never be equaled, the first Saturday in May would provide for Native Dancer, an inerasable blemish against 21 other perfect performances. Arriving in Kentucky off prep wins in the Gotham and Wood that stretched his career mark to 11 for 11, Bill Winfrey’s charge went off as part of a 2-3 favored entry. For jockey Eric Guerin, the instructions were simple: Stay out of trouble. But entering the first turn, Native Dancer was jostled and knocked off stride by longshot Money Broker and Guerin had to check the big gray to avoid incident. While Native Dancer was able to settle on the backstretch and improve position, Guerin still had a lot of ground to make up on pacesetter Dark Star when finally clear in the stretch. Alas at the wire, Native Dancer fell a head short of the leader to the heartbreak of millions.

Though denied Derby laurels, Native Dancer quickly and methodically stamped out another 10 race win streak that left him with a 21-1-0 mark in 22 career starts. His post-race career was equally stellar and guaranteed that his name will never disappear from the track. His son Raise A Native, and the sire line that bears his name, continues to impact the Classics with an unprecedented string of Derby, Preakness and Belmont wins like none in history. And as the broodmare sire of Northern Dancer, his blood has been passed on to nearly every horse that enters The Jockey Club register.


1967 — DAMASCUS

In a sophomore season as brilliant as nearly any that preceded it, the bay son of Sword Dancer won a race that will never be forgotten but lost the one that would have ensured his place among the five greatest to ever don a saddle. On a hot and humid day, Damascus was done in by the Derby scene as trainer Frank Whitely’s charge was a bundle of nerves from the moment the rose run hubbub began that Saturday morning. He agitatedly paced his stall non-stop as the noise and commotion built, and by the time Willie Shoemaker climbed aboard, he had perhaps half the horse he was accustomed to riding. That half a horse was still good enough for third behind the mercurial Proud Clarion, but at Old Hilltop, Elmont and most of his remaining career starts, no one, including Buckpasser and Dr. Fager, could stop him. In a “Horse of the Year” campaign that eclipsed Nashua’s 1955 single season earnings mark, Damascus eased the pain of the Derby frustration in a race widely regarded as the greatest of the century. That season’s Woodward brought together the dual Classic winner, 4-year old Buckpasser and the brilliant Dr. Fager. Not before or since has a race featured three such highly regarded immortals, and the day belonged emphatically to Damascus. Though short-changed in his Triple Crown quest, few will argue Damascus’ credentials among the game’s all time best. And as if his exploits on the track were not enough to guarantee a place in history, Damascus followed up his running with an important and enduring stud career.


1974 — LITTLE CURRENT

Winning the Kentucky Derby is a difficult task in any year for an off the pace runner, but in 1974 this late charging Darby Dan colt was given the impossible assignment of passing 22 other rose run rivals, the largest field in the history of the Classic. Squeezed at the start and 17th after a half, jockey Bobby Ussery tried everything he could to move Current towards the front, but kept finding one wall of horses after another. Meanwhile, Angel Cordero was successfully picking off challengers on Cannonade, eventually steering the Woody Stephens’ bay wide and clear of trouble. By the time Ussery found daylight Cordero and Cannonade were combing their hair for winner’s circle photos. Little Current finished fifth at 22-1 that afternoon, seven lengths back. But two and five weeks later, he demolished Preakness and Belmont fields by that same seven length margin. After 1974, Churchill officials decided to limit the Derby field to 20. That was of little consolation to Current or Ussery… Little Current did get some posthumous Derby satisfaction in 2003 on the coat tails of Funny Cide, permanently entering the annals as the sire of the gelding’s second dam, Belle of Killarney.

[blackthroatedwind]

Little Current lost the Travers to Holding Pattern.

Then again.....Curlin was third in the Haskell and skipped the Travers.