Darkstar handed Northern Dancer his first and only defeat. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Racetrack
TRIPLE CROWN TRIUMPHS: LOOKING BACK AT THE LONGSHOTS by
Eric Floyd is an accomplished turf writer who passionately promotes thoroughbred racehorse aftercare. An excerpt from his all for charity thoroughbred horse racing novel, “Heaven’s Premier Horse Race” can be viewed at Amazon.com.
E R I C F LOY D
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ny horseplayer who says they haven’t fantasized about cashing a win ticket on a 99-1 shot is well, akin to Pinocchio. Because hey let’s face it, even the most ignorant railbird among us can make a few bucks by betting on an enormous favorite. Yet truth be told, triumphs which are fused to futile odds typically aren’t all that memorable. Such scores simply don’t make for entertaining anecdotes on those occasions when we “chew the fat” with our fellow turf aficionados. Now while hitting a long shot incites an adrenaline rush that can last long after the fact, nothing compares to “blowing up” a tote board that is attached either
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the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes or Belmont Stakes. For certain, these three races which make up Thoroughbred Horse Racing’s Triple Crown Series represent the loftiest pinnacles in our sport, and while picking a winner in any of the previously mentioned routes is surely sweet, “bringing home a bomb” on the Sport of Kings’ grandest stage will literally make you a legend. Hence, here are half a dozen horses that all of us wish we had bet on!
Dark Star – 1953 Kentucky Derby – 25-1 While he is far from the longest priced Kentucky Derby winner, I honestly believe that Dark Star (25-1) pulled off the
