The Bottom Line
Pros
- A tribute to some of the horses who became heroes by defying their odds
- Longshots are a major part of Derby lore and this book chronicles this
- Detailed information is given for each of the 12 upset winners chosen for inclusion
Cons
- We found no fault with this work. A fitting addition to a racing history fan's library.
Description
- 1904 winner Elwood, the longest shot on the board, was also the first Derby starter owned by a woman
- Donerail stuns the crowd in 1913 paying $184.90 to win
- 1918 winner Exterminator was the "other" horse in W.S. Kilmer's stable, entered when stablemate Sun Briar failed to develop
- Bold Venture wins in 1936 paying $43, upsetting favorite Brevity; 35-1 shot Gallahadion beat 2-5 favorite Bilemech in 1940
- Then undefeated "Grey Ghost" Native Dancer goes down to defeat to Dark Star by a neck in 1953, his only career loss
- Jockey Bill Shoemaker misjudges the finish line aboard Gallant Man in 1957, handing victory to Iron Liege and Bill Hartack
- Venezuelan horse Canonero II barely makes entry into the race, then ships in to win in 1971 as part of the mutuel field
- Genuine Risk scores for the distaff side in 1980, one of only three fillies to wear the Roses
- 1992 winner Lil E. Tee gives jockey Pat Day his one and only Kentucky Derby victory
- 1995 winner Thunder Gulch upsets stablemate Timber Country, and Giacomo shocks the world by scoring at 50-1 in 2005
Guide Review - Greatest Kentucky Derby Upsets
There isn't a horse race in the world that is more over-analyzed than the Kentucky Derby. Horses and connections are under the media microscope starting months to a year in advance, and with the resultant hype, one or several will be bet down by the public on the first Saturday in May. Of course, putting twenty high-strung 3-year-olds in the gate with 150,000 fans in attendance and have them travel longer than any had before, many things can go wrong, and particularly in the Derby, favorites have not fared as well as they do in day-in day-out racing.The editors did not rank the upsets in any order of importance or significance, opting instead to cover them in chronological order, as listed above. The selections were not based merely on odds, although longest odds winner Donerail and 50-1 shocker Giacomo are among the subject horses. Upsets are often defined not by form reversals of a no-hoper horse on paper, but by the fact that somehow the heavy favorite failed on a day meant to be his coronation, such as Native Dancer and Arazi losing to Dark Star and Lil E. Tee respectively. And despite his relatively short odds of 8-1, Iron Liege would not have won in 1957 had Bill Shoemaker not stood up in the irons aboard Gallant Man at the 1/16 pole, one of few errors made by one of racing's greatest riders.
Each upset gets its own chapter, where one of several top Blood-Horse writers discusses how that winner got to the races and ultimately the Churchill Downs winner's circle. The running of the Derby itself is covered in detail, as well as what happened with the winner afterward including Triple Crown attempts and stud career if any.
It is a compact, easy to read work that demonstrates part of why the Derby is so special. It is a difficult race to win, where any one of 20 horses can step up on the first Saturday in May.
