Horsey Ride, Daddy, Horsey Ride Quiz

Answer: Wild Again!

Ridden masterfully by jockey Pat Day, 30-1 longshot Wild Again stunned the attending crowd by going to the lead at the start and holding off the challenges of favourites Slew O'Gold and Gate Dancer at the finish line. Jockey Angel Cordero, riding third place finisher Slew O'Gold, lodged a claim of foul against the top two and was promoted to second, while Gate dancer was demoted to third for causing the bulk of bumping in the stretch.

The Breeders Cup Series was created by John Gaines, and was meant to be a year-end series of races (currently 8) for the best horses in the world. The races vary according to distance, age, and surface. It has been held every year in the U.S. except 1996, when Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto (Ontario, Canada) played host to the event.
(www.breederscup.com/bc_index.aspx)

Answer: Exceller

Exceller was foaled in Kentucky, USA, and sold as a yearling to Nelson Bunker Hunt. Hunt raced Exceller in both France and England, winning top stakes races in the process. The 1978 Gold Cup win, with Willie Shoemaker in the irons, remained his greatest achievment however, since no other horse, including the great Secretariat, could claim two Triple Crown winners as his victims in a single race. Seattle Slew finished second while Affirmed faded to finish fifth, the result of a slipped saddle.

The Jockey Club Gold Cup, a race for 3 year olds and upward, was established in 1919 and won by Purchase. The great Kelso has been the only horse to win the Cup 5 times.

A sad postcript: A few years after Exceller's retirement, his owner went bankrupt, and had the horse sent to a slaughterhouse to be put down. As a result, organizations such as The Exceller Fund seek to purchase and retrain former racehorses for new careers, especially those that don't do well at stud.

Answer: Upset

The word "upset" became part of everyday vocabulary after the horse dealt Man O' War his only defeat ( by half a length ). Born March 29, 1917, Man O' War retired in 1920 with a record 21 victories in 22 races." Big Red", as he was affectionately known, was bred by August Belmont II and purchased by Samuel Riddle, who hired Louis Feustel as the trainer. Over his short career, Man O' War won numerous stakes races, including the Preakness and Belmont, and set many track and world records in the process.

His final race was a match race against Sir Barton, the 1919 Triple Crown winner, and conducted at Kenilworth Park in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, on October 12, 1920. Man O' War won with ease. He was retired to stud with some success and died on November 1, 1947, of a heart attack.

He was buried at the Lexington Horse Park in Kentucky, USA. Interest of note: Man O' War's final race at Kenilworth Park, Ontario was the first horse race ever to be filmed in its entirety.

Answer: 9.79 seconds

(Jamaican-born) Johnson subsequently lost his medal after he tested positive for (illegal rocket fuel) anabolic steroids. Carl Lewis (USA) was elevated to the Gold medal, Linford Christie (Great Britain) the Silver, and Calvin Smith (USA) the Bronze.
At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA, (Jamaican-born) Donovan Bailey restored Canada's reputation by winning in a time of 9.84 seconds.

Answer: Fishes

After a lead chariot passed in front of Caesar and the finish line, a metal bell in the shape of a fish would be tilted backward to show a lap completed. Hur won the race, while Messala was trampled to death.(No bath for him!)
Yakima Canutt, who choreographed the chariot sequence, jokingly referred to the process as " making a Messala burger ". Morbid humour indeed.

Ben Hur was played by Charlton Heston. Messala was played by Stephen Boyd. The movie won 11 Academy awards in 1959, including Best Picture.

Answer: Yang beat Johnson by 1.2 seconds

Prior to the 1960 Olympic games, Yang and Johnson, along with Vassily Kuznetsov (USSR) were considered the favourites to contend for the medals. Each in turn had broken the world record, with Johnson holding the world mark of 8683 points up to the 1960 Games.

After 9 events, Yang had won an incredible 6 events (Johnson the other 3), but found himself trailing Johnson, with Kuznetsov a non-threatening third. Although Yang was a much superior 1500 meter runner, he could not shake Johnson.

In the end, the final decathlon result was:
Gold - Rafer Johnson (USA) 8392 points
Silver - C. K. Yang (Taiwan) 8334 points
Bronze - V. Kuznetsov (USSR) 7809 points

Although Johnson, Yang, and Kuznetsov competed for different countries, all remained good friends. Both Yang and Johnson attended UCLA University in the US and trained together. They had the same coach, "Ducky" Drake (died 1988), who would pretend to favour one over the other in order to get the maximum effort from both athletes.

Answer: Darby Creek Road

Although Alydar came second in all three Triple Crown races, he outshone Affirmed as a sire of champion horses. Alydar's offspring included Althea, Alysheba, Turkoman, Easy Goer, Strike the Gold, Criminal Type, and Miss Oceana.
Run Dusty Run finished second to Seattle Slew (1977 Belmont).
Affirmed was the last horsee to sweep the U.S. Triple Crown in the 20th century.
Golden Act finished second to Coastal (1979 Belmont).
Ed Koch was Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989. Possessing a sense of humor, he appeared as guest host on episodes of (older) Saturday Night Live.

Answer: Queen's Plate (Canada)

Canada's Queen's Plate was first inaugurated at the Carleton Race Track in Toronto on June 27, 1860. Only horses foaled in Canada are eligible to run.
Arguably the most prominent winner of the Plate is Northern Dancer (1964), who also captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

The Kentucky Derby was first run in 1875 and won by Aristides.
The Belmont Stakes was contested initially in 1867 and won by Ruthless.

Answer: St. Leger, Epsom Oaks, 1000 Guineas.

The last filly to achieve this rare feat was the great Oh So Sharp, in 1985.

Nijinsky II, born in Oshawa (Ontario, Canada) and son of Northern Dancer, became the last horse to win the English Triple Crown, in 1970. In between, he added the Irish Derby and King-GeorgeVI-&-Queen-Elizabeth Diamond Stakes then capped off his sensational season with a head second-place finish (to Sassafras) in the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.

Answer: Kincsem

Kincsem was born in Hungary in 1874. She raced in Hungary, Germany, Austria, France, and England. She won 10 times at 2 years old, 17 times at 3, and a combined 27 times at 4 and 5 years old.
Kincsem died from a colic attack on March 17, 1887.