Much more often than not, horses fail to live up to the regal names bestowed upon them. Maiden claiming races are filled with horses that have a "King" or "Queen" in their name. But if a horse ever justified its moniker, few did it as magnificently as Majestic Prince.
Given a name that exuded class, Majestic Prince was indeed equine royalty during a short but spectacular 10-race career that saw him come heart-breakingly close to a Triple Crown sweep in 1969.
When Canonero II won the 1971 Kentucky Derby, he generated a rather modest return for a $2 win ticket.
Yet that $19.40 winning ticket on the "Caracas Cannonball" had nothing to do with the Venezuelan shipper’s merits and everything to do with his inclusion in a gargantuan six-horse mutuel field.
Based on his form and a star-crossed trip to the United States, Canonero probably would have been dismissed at 100-1 odds in the 97th Kentucky Derby. Maybe even 200-1, but nothing even remotely close to his 8-1 odds.
Justin Zayat, racing manager for Zayat Stables, looks hopefully at every young horse his family breeds or purchases, wondering if another American Pharoah might come his way again. He looks in vain.
