When I was a girl, I had a favorite horse. I learned to ride at a young age, followed horse racing when I was a teenager and ever since, and had a subscription to The Blood Horse younger than anyone had a right to. My favorite horse was a thoroughbred named Crimson Satan. Why? My Dad, who fulfilled every wish I had that he could, took me to visit the farm where he lived, the former Crimson King Farm and I fell in love…..with the horse. We went back over and over again up until Crimson Satan turned three and to my delight, he was entered in the Kentucky Derby.
I followed every race he ran and everything he did as he prepped for the Derby. In 1961, at two years old, he was the two year old champion male horse of the year. That award no longer exists. In 1962, he ran in each of the Triple Crown races, running sixth in the Derby, seventh in Preakness, and third in the Belmont Stakes. At my age then, I thought he was the most wonderful horse that ever lived. He went on to become a very successful sire and produced a granddaughter that sold at the Keeneland sales for $7 million in 1985.
Why am I talking about my childhood horse friend, Crimson Satan, on Derby Day, 2016 when Nyquist just brilliantly won the Kentucky Derby? You see, I am a horse pedigree freak. I always research horse pedigrees. I researched all the Derby horses, including Nyquist and much to my surprise, I found out that Nyquist 4X great granddam, on his dam’s side was a horse named Crimson Saint whose sire was MY childhood horse friend, Crimson Satan, Nyquist’s 5X great grandsire. I thought nothing could have endeared Nyquist to my heart more than this astounding finding.
But, something did. Crimson Saint was bred to one of the greatest horses of them all to eventually produce Nyquist, our beloved Secretariat. I couldn’t believe the coincidence. My research led me a step further. The greatest horse of all, Man ‘O War, is way back in Nyquist’s and Crimson Satan’s pedigree on the sire side, perhaps 9 or 10 generations.
How could Nyquist possibly have lost? #Nyquist #kentuckyderby #horseracing
The Write Scribe 
How could Nyquist have lost? How did Man O’ War and Secretariat each lose a race? And American Pharaoh lost two. They were ‘off their feed’ on the days that they lost.
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Just making a joke…..in the spirit of the post.
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