I still can't believe Zenyatta pulled that one off.  What a tough cookie.  Personal Ensign's race is really just amazing.  Zenyatta hasn't faced anyone ever close to Winning Colors.  Funny how similar the situation is this year.  A fantastic speedy 3 year old who wins a classic race against the boys verses and older undefeated mare.  However, I think Rachel is a better horse than Winning Colors was.  In 2009 I don't believe Zenyatta could catch Rachel in either a match race or a normal race situation (Rachel knows how to rate unlike Winning Colors who just liked to run a hole in the wind).  Zenyatta is a monster but to me she still looks green every time she kicks it in in the stretch.  I feel like she would actually become even better if they raced her more often.  Those long gangly legs need more practice at kicking it in so quickly.  Pity they're so conservative with her.

Makes your heart beat faster and soar just a little, doesn't it?

Awesome! Horse racing at it's finest.

I loved the Queen. She won 16 pounds. And seemed quite excited to have her horse run 3rd. She seems very cute to me now.

Again no love for Concern!

Thank you once again for bringing these races together to admire the closers who make my heart seem to stop sometimes before they get to the wire. Exciting! In my tender heart, Zenyatta is the Queen, but I did actually laugh at loud at how tickled the UK's Queen was at her win.  You're probably not supposed to say a queen was cute, but she was!

Don't forget Senor Speedy!

You forgot one amazing closer ~ JOHN HENRY!!

A wire to wire race can be exciting, but nothing compares to the feelings you get when you witness a closer... goosebumps every time! :-) That's why I love both MINE THAT BIRD and ZENYATTA.

The BC distaff with Personal Ensign and Winning Colors is still my favorite race that I have ever seen in person. I was there that day and there was an obnoxiously loud W.COlors fan right behind me that kept yelling that she was going to go wire to wire and that the race was over at the quarter pole. I started screaming at the final turn that P. Ensign was flying more from hope than anything. I'll never forget how the whole grandstand leaned as the fillies crossed the wire as if that could help their choice.  

What a great field.  Goodbye Halo was an awesome filly as well.

Zenyatta is amazing to see in person as well.  I haven't seen Rachel and prob. won't since she's not coming to the BC this year.

How do you leave out Concern's breeder's cup classic???

There are so many wonderful "close call" races it would be imposible to name them all, but Lava Man's 2007 Hollywood Gold Cup still sends chills up my spine.  I think Lava Man's heart pushed him and everyone's heart at Hollywood Park that day pulled him over the finish line.  Love you Lava Man! And to Zenyatta, can't wait to see you again at Santa Anita this fall!

Victory Gallop....Best Closer ever...Even Jerry Bailey says so. Watch the 99 Foster and Whitney. Faster horse ever around the turn acoording to Bailey.

Concern was by far the best deep closer I have ever see.  Just take a look at the 1994 Breeders Cup Classic.  

How could you possibly forget the most amazing closer of them all?  

Forego with 137 lbs nailing Honest Pleasure with 119 lbs on the wire in the 1976 Marlboro Cup?  

He was backing up on the backstretch because he was spinning his wheels in that slop, so Shoe just let him run along and didn't push it for fear he'd injure himself (this horse had probably the worst legs bar none).  But old campaigner that he was, Forego had other ideas and took dead aim on Honest Pleasure and came a running.  Absolutely the most amazing race I ever witnessed!

www.youtube.com/watch

Z-E-N-Y-A-T-T-A = Pure Hickory!

LATE BLOOMERS...THEY COME DOWN LATE...BUT THEY DO COME DOWN!!!...LONG LIVE THE CLOSER!!!...

Favorite has to be the Personal Ensign BC, the undefeated vs. the derby winner, spectacular.

Fan1469, when I saw the races chosen for this article my first thought was , "how old is the author?"  To leave out the Forego Marlboro Cup miracle on any list like this just doesn't seem right.  In a list of the greatest races of all time this one should be in the top ten on everyone's list.

New Englanders will remember Ameritime as an unbelievable closer during the '70's.

An extremely exciting horse to watch.

John Henry's win in his last race was interesting.  He was far back and McCarron said he thought he wasn't going to run.  However, at some point, JH decided, on his own, that it was time.  He set sail and began to pick them off.  That day, the great Chris M was, merely, along for the ride.

However, the word closer and Eddie D are forever locked in my brain.  I can't recall the number of times, I have yelled, "C'mon Eddie D" as he roared down the center of the track.

But, the great Lady Z's tremendous final time and finish at DM reminded me of some of the great closing kicks of Kotashaan on the turf.  He came close to pulling Kent D out of the irons as he roared up the lane in elevens.  Elevens, now where have I read about that before?  Ah, last week after the Clement Hirsch.

Did anyone ever see Ghostzapper in the Vosburgh?  OMG. One of the most rediculous races I've ever seen. Final 1/2 furlong in less than 6 seconds.  He wasn't necessarily a closer but check that race out on youtube.

An interesting aside about the great closing abilities of Eddie D was a pre-Longacres Mile race at Emerald.  Eddie D wanted a check ride or two.  He took a mount from Bud Klokstad, who Bud considered to be an off the pace horse with a late kick.  Eddie, immediately, put him on the lead and never looked back.  Bud K was still in shock in the Winner's Circle.

There have been many closers (named in this blog) who have accomplished spectacular feats, but none and I repeat "N-O-N-E" hold a candle to the late great "Silky Sullivan".

The following 6 1/2 furlong race shows him closing 41 lengths:

www.youtube.com/watch

Thank you so much for the article and the videos.

I also so enjoyed Forego, can't believe the weight....

There is something about a closer that gets me off my seat and into the race.  

CJK

I had to go look it up--Honest Pleasure was the 2nd high weight at 119 and Forego was giving from 18 to 28 lbs to the rest of the field!  

But Forego was coming off his 3rd Woodward win 2 weeks before at 1 1/8 miles carrying 135, so Tommy Trotter piled another 2 lbs on for the Marlboro Cup at 1 1/4 miles.  

They almost scratched him because the track was sloppy, which he would probably have difficulty handling.  His only prior start on a sloppy track was the 1974 Marlboro Cup when he finished 3rd carrying 126 lbs.  

But Shoe rode on the undercard and told Frank Whiteley he thought it had enough bottom that Forego could handle it.  

Everyone thought he was beaten--Shoe, Whiteley, Gustines (his former jockey), but I guess they all forgot to tell Forego.  And the final time was 2:00, a fifth off the track record that he had set in the 1975 Brooklyn carrying 132 lbs.

Unfortunately, the effort cost him because he developed a filling in his right front and had to miss the Jockey Club Gold Cup and he was out for the rest of that year.  But he nabbed his 3rd HOY anyway.

Ah, the glory days of racing--when you actually were able to watch a horse race on network TV!  I remember seeing this race and it STILL amazes me that somehow he was able to win, because it was hopeless even 3 strides from the wire.

I even made it out to Santa Anita to see John Henry win his 2nd Big Cap....yep, they just don't make 'em like they used to!

And now that you've got me wandering down memory lane about the old warrior.....don't forget the FOUR Woodwards he won 1974-1977.  

Go look them up--pure enjoyment, I promise!

FOREGO, COUGAR II, VIGORS, DULCIA, DAHLIA, EXCELLER, MEGAHERTZ, LIT DE JUSTICE, VICTORY GALLOP, ZENYATTA, etc., were all great closers. There's nothing quite as thrilling in racing as a deep closer, especially one that actually gets there at the end!

One of my favorite closers, Vigors, "The White Tornado," coming from way out of it to win the '78 Big Cap:  www.youtube.com/watch

FAn 1469,  I remember Forego all too well.  The only time I saw him in person was for the whitney at Saratoga.  It rained all day and the track was sloppy but in those days when the fans showed up to see a horse as special as him the owners and trainers would race them no matter what the track condition was.  If only Zenyatta's group felt the same way at Churchill in May.  Anyway, the other thing that people either forget or never new is that Forego finished 4th in Secretariat's KY Derby.  He was also given Eclipse Awards for Sprinter and Handicap horse in the same year.  If Ruffian hadn't met her unfortunate fate I don't know if evryone wouldn't still be talking about a race with Forego, Ruffian, Foolish Pleasure and Wajima (highly under-rated).  As the Bunkers sang - Those Were The Days.

Thank the stars for YouTube, horse racing would sure be a lot poorer without it.

And don't forget the greatest horse of this young Century, Zarkava in the 'Arc.

When I was a young boy growing up

in Northern Ireland I can remember

watching a race on television from Kempton Park in England called the

Great Jubilee and a horse called Water Skier coming from last to first to win it.One year later his

trainer Eir Cousins had him back in

the race and the exact same thing happened.From then on I was hooked

on the sport of horse racing.I consider it one of the best things that ever happened in my life.

If anyone out there has a young filly with the potential of being a closer, perhaps naming them Kyra S might work.

Yeah, Silky Sullivan is all time.

If you read thru the previous 28 blogs with videos it makes you wonder why everyone thinks RA is already one of the all time greats.If some of those type horses will still around Mr. Jackson would be second guessing his 10mil investment. Ne wouldn't be able to cherry pick his way to achampionship.Think she could carry 130 lbs in the slop going 10 panels and come back two weeks later. Not only couldn't she do it but her connections wouldn't let her. If she is truly the best she should toe the mark against all comers.

I know he's not in the same class, but I would love to see a come-from-behind race by Silky Sullivan. I remember watching him on TV in the mid 1950s. My mother and I would get so excited when he won.

does anyone remember Carryback

how about 09 humana distaff. informed decision had all kinds of trouble in the strech but just would not give up.

The biggest heartbreak of all:

Birdstone nips Smarty Jones

Pro-Ride! I feel yah, Silky Sullivan was awesome. He was my fathers favorite racehorse back in the day.

Everyone loves a closer. :)

Fan1469

You're so right.....an amazing race and an amazing horse!!!

Zenyatta is awesome. She is a champion of champions because she is so strategic and always runs a horse race. That is exciting.

2009 Horse of the Year--Zenyatta.

Frankie S - Carry Back!  The only horse I ever sent a fan letter to!  His owners sent back a super-sized postcard of Carry Back - an item I still treasure. When I was a kid, I always watched the Triple Crown races on tv but it was Carry Back's Derby that forever made me a fan.  Watching that little brown colt with the long tail hurtle down the stretch still sends chills. "By Saggy out of Joppy," he was not exactly bred to the purple, but Carry Back was a racehorse.

www.youtube.com/watch

Nobody did it better than Awad in the Manhattan and Arlington Million.

Must include Concern..

Check out the 94 Arkansas Derby and BC Classic.

Take a look at some of Awad too..

Becky,

Thank you for putting all those videos together for us. That was great seeing the Queen so happy. Wasn't it nice she visited the US and saw the Derby here. I'll never forget seeing pics of Calvin dining with her and the President.

Another great thing is whoever put together pedigreequery. It is so cool to look up horses in mines ped and see notes on them. I have a couple the Queen raced in their backgrounds.

silky sullivan the king of the closers!!

secretariat may have won by 31 lengths, but silky would CLOSE 31 lengths just to catch the field!

Mustang%

Type in YouTube Silky Sullivan and you can see a vidoe of Silky Sullivan coming from 41 lengths behind to win a race.

Lazmannick:

Thanks for the Silky Sullivan video information. This was unbelievable! I kept thinking, "He can't do this."

Interesting facts about Silky Sullivan's 1958 Kentucky Derby effort. They breezed him the morning of the race, after having run him in a seven-furlong race at CD the previous Saturday.

Glad to see they brought him back to Santa Anita for a tribute parade at age twenty. Boy, he was prancing! Or maybe all that braiding was just too tight and he was "ouchie".

Winning Colors (against the colts 4 times (2-0-1) like Risen Star, Seeking the Gold, Forty Niner, Regal Classic, Private Terms) and older mare Personal Ensign, undefeated against her sex... that generation's RA and Zen...3/4 length & a "lip" separates those two great fillies of that day.

My heart still pounds...

And no one remembers the old grey man of New York. No one closed like Evening Attire. He was awesome to watch walk out of the gate and race into the winners circle.

Yes, thank goodness for YouTube!

The video of Her Majesty was wonderful. At that moment, she's just like the rest of us.

My favorite closer was Buckpasser.  He showed up on network TV on saturdays when I was a young man and would run em down in the stretch.  What thrills he supplied.  His career was too short but brilliant

Chris Evert.  What a great service it would be if you could locate a film of the thrilling closer.  

Another deep closing filly great--the stayer La Zanzara, from the 70's...won two San Juan Capistranos I believe, from far back....beautiful grey.....

Great videos that you have dug out for us to enjoy yet again Becky.  

Loved the one of Queen Eizabeth II watching Generous destroy the 1991 Derby field - was there at Epsom too!  Such a shame that both Fahd and Ahmed Salman died so young!

Zenyatta and Stardom Bound were wonderful to watch again especially knowing that they both won!!!!

Dahlia not just a fast closer - sometimes she made all!  As when walloping Grundy and co in the 1975 Benson and Hedges at York!

Great Blogsite as ever so many thanks Becky!

God Bless

Best wishes

Abbie

I loved LA ZANZARA. I always had to be at the races to see her run. I thought she was a gorgeous (gray) mare.

We have yet to see Zenyatta put to the test. I looked at the still photos from the Clement Hirsch-she had more in the tank-her she still had one ear pricked crossing the wire. Still, that '76 Marlboro Cup gives me chills.

Thanks for the memories.....many of those emotional victories still bring tears to my eyes, especially Personal Ensign retiring undefeated on that wet Churchill Downs track....There's just something thrilling about those closers!

I'm kinda surprised no one mentioned Midnite Lute.  He had a couple of incredible finishes as I recall!

I've always had a thing for the closers but Victory Gallop catching Real Quiet was one for the books and one time I didn't want to see a closer coming on in the stretch. I still blame Kent D. for that one. Real Quiet should have been our elusive 12th Triple Crown winner!

merlinmerry, I am so with you on Carry Back. I started getting the BloodHorse then, so I could read about him.He took my breath away. And I do love the closers like Zenyatta, Zarkava, Personal Ensign, Concern, Silky.

I noticed someone talking about AMERITIME.  I owned this horse when he finished his racing career at a late age (10 I believe) and bought him for $1.00.  Can anyone give me any details on this horse? I know nothing about his racing career except that is was moderatly successful!