Word: colts
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...wisecracks turned to wonderment. Could he do it? Could this rank unknown, this invader from Venezuela-Venezuela?-make off with the most coveted honor in U.S. horse racing, the Triple Crown? Last week a record crowd of 81,036 came to find out, as the big (16.1 hands) copper colt went to the post in the $125,000 Belmont Stakes, the final jewel in the Triple Crown. A fleet, frantic 2 min. 30.2 sec. later, the fans at Belmont and millions more watching on TV in the U.S. and Venezuela had the answer...
Unclassy Beginning. Bred in Kentucky, the colt looked like an also-ran at the 1969 Keeneland Fall Sales. Not that his breeding was bad, but he was small and had a split hoof and a bad case of worms. A Venezuelan agent bought him for a paltry $1,200 and shipped him off to Caracas, where he was sold to Millionaire Horseman Pedro Baptista for $6,000. Nursed through his early infirmities, Cañonero grew into a strapping three-year-old with an exceptionally long (30 ft.) stride. When Venezuela's top rider, Gustavo Avila...
...somebodies decided to try-especially after a skin rash and an infected hoof caused Cañonero to miss two days of training. By post time, the field had grown to 13; nine of the horses Cañonero had never met before, including a speedy bay colt named Pass Catcher who had registered two firsts and a second in his last three starts...
...from 18th position and streaked for the outside. At the final turn, Jockey Gustavo Avila cut around the fading front runners and booted Canonero II down the stretch to win going away by 3¾ lengths. Jim French finished second, two lengths ahead of Bold Reason. The Kentucky-bred colt, who was bought for a paltry $1,200 at the 1969 Keeneland yearling sales before being shipped to Venezuela, paid $19.40 and won $145,500, the largest purse in Derby history. An interpreter for Owner Edgar Caibett, a plumbing supplies manufacturer from Caracas, explained that Canonero means "gunner"-a fitting...
Donations for 1971 are expected to slightly surpass last year's figure. "Of course, that is excluding the possibility of a large bequest," Colt said. Last year's total did not include any such large contribution...