Top Ten Derby Stories Had Endings
Secretariat, Black Gold, Canonero II Stories Unmatched by 7 Others
Aug 19, 2007
It hasn't gotten any better than Secretariat's 1:59-2/5 record Kentucky Derby run, or the story of the people's champion of 1924, Black Gold, raised by an Irishman and his Indian wife, or of Canonero II, the Venezuelan champion plagued by illness and injury. What happened to the other seven winners named in the Blood-Horse Top Ten Derbies list after their Run for the Roses?
Whirlaway, Citation, and Affirmed went on, like Secretariat, to win the American Triple Crown. What of the stories of Iron Liege (1957), Broker's Tip (1933), Regret (1915), and Alysheba (1987)?
Ironically, Iron Liege had been the subject of a Sports Illustrated series of articles created over a three-year period to follow the life of a foal who might one day compete in the famed Kentucky Derby, headlined by photographs that were captioned: "The Baby Started at 9,066 to 1" (referring to the odds, based on the 9,067 foals registered in 1954, that he could win the Derby).
By Derby Day, that baby was at 15 to 1 odds. Bold Ruler, who later fathered Secretariat, was the 1957 favorite. He, along with the talented Derby field that included Round Table and Gallant Man, went on to better successes than Iron Liege.
After 8 wins from 17 starts as a three-year-old, Iron Liege won only once at four. Unmentioned in the book of greats, Iron Liege had only his Kentucky Derby victory to speak for him. He served at stud abroad, in France and in Japan, but had little success, even with War Admiral, Man o' War, and Sir Gallahad III in his own maternal lineage.
The Derby victory fashioned by Broker's Tip was his only career win. Oddly, that triumph came as his maiden win, the first horse to be in that position since Sir Barton in 1919. Sir Barton went on to greater things, too, winning the first American Triple Crown. Not so, Broker's Tip.
He never finished on the board again, passing into oblivion. Even his Roses moment was obscured by the Derby finish, which featured a "fight" between his jockey, Don Meade, and Herb Fisher, who piloted Head Play, the competitor Broker's Tip nosed out.
Regret, the first filly to wear Derby roses, died in 1934, thoroughly regarded as a champion and elected to the racing Hall of Fame in 1957.
She foaled six stakes winners. Among them were Revenge and Rueful. Her Penitent, Nemesis and Stigma foaled Canadian and steeplechase winners, as well as others, including Easter Hatter, Red Rag, and Avenger.
One of the most successful Derby champs, Alysheba, son of the ever determined Alydar, retired at four with earnings of $6,679,242, tops in North American racing.
Alysheba won the 1988 Breeders' Cup Classic, beat 1986 Derby winner Ferdinand three of four times, and won the Horse of the Year title in 1988. At stud, he was less successful. He was sent to Saudi Arabia in 2000 to stand there.
And then there was Canonero II...
