I love this story about the "Caracas Cannonball!" Canonero was the smashing surprise winner of the 1971 Kentucky Derby. This story derives primarily from the Brodowsky and Philbin book, Two Minutes to Glory: The Official History of the Kentucky Derby. Canonero was born with a crooked foreleg, so he sold for a mere $1,200 at the Keeneland auction and was shipped to Venezuela where some report he had an undistinguished race record and others said he did very well.His trainer, Juan Arias, had grown up in the Caracas slums without a father, and lost himself in the "beautiful world of horses." Canonero was ordered back to the States when his owner, Pedro Baptista, received a dream from his deceased mother telling him to register him in the Derby. Chick Lang, on the nominating committee, remembered getting a call from a Spanish-inflected voice telling him to enroll a nobody horse with good pedigree. Lang put his name on a cocktail napkin and just barely registered him when he remembered at the last minute!
So, Canonero had a harrowing trip. Two of his planes had mechanical failures, and finally he was loaded into a cargo plane with ducks and chickens. His papers weren't in order when he arrived in Miami, so he had to wait 12 super-hot hours before being unloaded, and then spent 4 days in quarantine before taking a truck 1,200 miles to Lexington. He looked like a bag of bones, having lost 70 pounds during the whole ordeal, and could barely walk. Also, on top of it all, he was given a haircut -- the bobbing of his bangs -- which left him looking like "Moe of the Three Stooges."
And his entourage! Juan Arias treated Canonero like his beloved son, petting, hugging, kissing, whispering to him. He would talk to Canonero and solicit his opinion. If Canonero told him he didn't feel like training, no running that day! So, you can imagine, by the time he hit the Derby, he and his entire team were considered a BIG, FAT JOKE!!! But as Arias said on that day, "Nobody knows my horse. But after today, the world will know him."
And sure enough, 20 horses took to the field that day, and Canonero fell to 18th place. Then in bursts throughout those two minutes, his rider, the South American jockey, Gustavo Avila "El Munstruo," let him break forward. No whips were used. Arias would never allow a whip on his loving lovely little boy! No, just hands and heart would lead him forward. Finally, Canonero whipped to the lead and won in a romp at 3 3/4s lengths! The world was flummoxed, except for the Venezuelans who immediately took to the streets and partied -- who can blame them! And, of course, Baptista took his son to the cemetary to thank his dear old mom for the celestial tip! He showed the world it wasn't a fluke when he won the Preakness a few weeks later. But a foot problem stopped his Triple Crown bid in the Belmont.
In 1972, after healing, he came back to win the Stymie Handicap, by beating the very famous Riva Ridge. He won the 1971 Champion 3-year-old colt award and ended with a career record of 23: 9-3-4. He went to stud at the end of 1972, and passed away in 1981.
My girls are related to him most immediately through Prince Rose, Nasrullah, and Man o'War!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonero_II