Kentucky Derby, The First Longest Race For 3yos- First Three Fillies To Winner’s Circle

By Author: Lee Lane-Edgar
Total Articles: 365
Comment this article

When in 1915 Regret forayed into the male dominated race and glided to a neat victory in a wire to wire win at the Churchill Downs, becoming the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby since its inception and after almost 14 other fillies to have tried the same feat, it was nothing short of a victory.
Regret, born out of leading mare, Jersey Lightning to sire Broomstick had a lot resting on her shoulders since she was foaled. Born out of anticipation for a champion colt sired by a promising pedigree, Regret had to indeed accomplish what all champion colts do until she did.
Regret was sired by the legendary trainer, James Rowe Sr. who had earlier trained thoroughbreds like Hindoo, Colin and Miss Woodward. As a top female race horse, Regret started 11 times, winning 9 and finishing in the money once while out of it again just once. On the BloodHorse top 100 racehorses of the century, Regret was ranked 71 and also the 3rd greatest amongst fillies of all times.
Only after 65 years of prolonged wait, the Kentucky Derby field was once again invaded and captured by a filly in 1980. This was Genuine Risk winning the ...
... Derby and almost making it to the Triple Crown as she placed second in the other two legs. She became the second filly to win the Derby after Regret and also the first ever filly to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
Genuine Risk was trained by LeRoy Jolley and owned by Diana Firestone. Genuine Risk’s other critical wins comprised of Tempted Stakes, Ruffian Handicap and Demoiselle Stakes. BloodHorse ranked her #91 on the list of top 100.
It was however soon after 8 years that Winning Colors made another female victory in the Derby field in 1988. Foaled in 1985, Winning Colors was sired by Caro. Conditioned by renowned trainer D.Wayne Lukas and owned by Eugene Klein, Winning Colors was the only second filly to compete in all three legs of the Triple Crown.
Winning Colors’ win in the Derby was against a handpicked collection of toughest race horses including Seeking the Gold and Private Terms. After her Derby win, Winning Colors closed a third behind Risen Star and almost amidst the trailing traffic in the Belmont Stakes. Winning Colors later also won the Turfway Breeder’s Cup Stakes and was recognized as the U.S. Champion Three Year Old Filly.
If you wish to race these undisputed fillies and other legendary race horses of all times once again, try the horse racing games on www.horseracegame.com. Horse Racing Simulation LLC has designed 3D simulation based downloadable games that feature racing legends from the time of inception of thoroughbred racing. The game allows players worldwide to join a common game on the web and enjoy an interactive racing session. The games also showcase all aspects of the game such as betting, breeding new foals, training them on variety of surfaces and racing them in online tournaments. There’s so much to discover as jockeys or trainers or bettors about horse racing through these freely available games.