Welcome back to the second round of Horse Madness 2016! We are through the play-in round, and an updated bracket is here: Horse Madness 2016
On paper, this one appears to be a mismatch. Jim Dandy is the type of upset they name races and bars after. Giacomo is the type of upset often discounted as a fluke. However, whenever you are the ringleader of the largest exacta, trifecta, and superfecta payouts in the history of America’s most famous race, you rightfully earn a spot in Cinderella Bracket.
Jim Dandy
Jim Dandy’s 1930 Travers Win against Triple Crown winner Gallant Fox embodies everything we love about sports. Dismissed at 100-1 odds, Jim Dandy pulled away from the Fox and other racing blue bloods to prevail, adding a prominent tombstone to the Graveyard of Champions.
The 1930 Travers was run on a muddy track, after hard rains that morning and intermittent showers throughout the day. Jim Dandy had run in 141 (!) career races prior to the 1930 Travers and had run last in more than half of them. BUT, he had won the Grand Union Hotel Stakes at Saratoga the prior year in similar conditions. Though the bookmakers still gave him no shot, he skipped over the muddy going. At the top of the stretch, Whichone, the second choice owned by the Whitneys, bore out and brought Gallant Fox with him (a post race examination would show that Whichone bowed a tendon in the race), but more importantly, it gave Jim Dandy and his jockey Frank Baker space to charge through on the rail. Baker and Jim Dandy never looked back, crushing that year’s Triple Crown hero by 8 lengths. It was a race that remains one of horse racing’s greatest upsets, and is one of the primary reasons that Saratoga is known as the “Graveyard of Champions.” Jim Dandy became honored as the namesake for the Travers key prep, more importantly, his name also dons the front of our favorite dark and dingy racetrack bar.
Giacomo
Upsets are often the result of a perfect storm. And not to discredit Giacomo’s 2005 Kentucky Derby upset, but the stars aligned perfectly for him that first Saturday in May. Entering the gate for the Derby, Giacomo sported one win (a 2004 maiden score) out of seven starts. He was fourth in the Santa Anita Derby for his final prep. This lackluster record earned him odds of 50-1 for the Derby. In addition to Giacomo’s own mediocrity, he was also facing some serious competition; namely five Zito entrants including Bellamy Road, who was fresh off a freak performance in the Wood, future Travers winner and Breeders Cup runner up Flower Alley, and of course the always tough Afleet Alex. I’d be remiss if I also didn’t mention a Thorobros all-time favorite, Sun King, ran a game 15th. This would not be the last time we lost money on the King; not even close.
When Spanish Chestnut and Going Wild went wild on the lead–with ridiculous splits of 22.28 and 45,38–it became obvious the race would fall apart. And with Bellamy Road close to the lead and Afleet Alex having a series of traffic issues, the stage was set for an upset. Giacomo came storming home under Mike Smith and just got past his fellow 50-1 shot Closing Argument for the second biggest Derby upset at the time. A toteboard explosion resulted including a $9,814 exacta and a $133,134 trifecta.
Giacomo would win just one other race, although he did hit the super in the 2005 Breeders Cup (another lost ticket on Sun King) to complete his career.
