Legends

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Racing’s Unforgettable Rivalries: Sunday Silence and Easy Goer

Advancements in airline travel had an amazingly profound impact on everyday life in this country.

It brought the eastern and western shores closer together, and created business opportunities that would have seemed ridiculous a century ago.

Trans-continental flights allowed professional franchises to expand into the Golden State of California in the late 1950s and it wasn’t too long before East-West rivalries sprang up, involving teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics.

Rachel Alexandra: A Superstar Filly for the Ages

Dolph Morrison bred Rachel Alexandra but was so unimpressed in the early stages of her development that he twice contemplated selling her.

Majestic Prince: A Racehorse Who Lived Up to His Name

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.

Venezuelan import Canonero, nicknamed the Caracas Cannonball, wins the 1971 Preakness Stakes.

Canonero II: A Blue-Collar Hero and True Racehorse of the People

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.

Hall of Fame Trainer King Leatherbury: A Maryland Legend

King Leatherbury knows how he wants his training career to be defined. He knows how he would like to be remembered.

“If I wanted something on my tombstone,” he said, “it would just be, ‘He won races.’ ”

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