After the Upset: Keen Ice is not done yet

When Keen Ice blew past American Pharoah in the closing stages of the 2015 Travers, it was one of the bigger upsets in modern racing. Keen Ice had been a good second to the champion in the Haskell, one race before, but with only one win in ten races, few expected the son of Curlin to put a halt to the Triple Crown winner's powerful eight-race winning streak. It was a career making victory for the Donegal Racing runner.

The fantastic form of defeating a giant in the Mid-Summer Derby would not carry over, though. Keen Ice would lose his next ten races. As we have learned in other sports, the Travers winner of two years ago is not alone in crashing back to Earth after pulling off a monumental upset.

Looking back at some of the biggest upsets in the history of sports, the years after the surprise have not been exactly kind to the 'Davids' in the David and Goliath results.  

- The New York Jets shocked the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, but in the nearly five decades since, the Jets have not even made it back to the the big one in the NFL.

- The USA Hockey team gave us reason to believe in miracles when they defeated the invincible squad from the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics. They have yet to win a Gold Medal since.

- When the North Carolina State Wolfpack upset the mighty Houston Cougars team in the 1983 NCAA Basketball Championship game, it was their second title in ten years. They have not appeared in a final four since.

- Buster Douglas was an enormous underdog, but somehow found a way to knock out the previously unbeaten Mike Tyson for the heavyweight title in 1990. He lost that belt in his next fight and never won a big one again.

As far as the sport of horse racing, whatever became of some our biggest giant killers?

- Jim Dandy would go on to race more than one hundred times after his shocking win over Gallant Fox in the Travers, winning occasionally, but he never again won anything close to his lone victory of 1930.

- Onion also won several races after his unthinkable upset of Secretariat in the 1973 Whitney, but none were graded stakes, and none were even in the same stratosphere as his stunning victory that afternoon at Saratoga.

Keen Ice, meanwhile lost all those races, and switched barns from Dale Romans to Todd Pletcher, before finally breaking through for another victory. It may not have been American Pharoah and the Travers, but knocking off the classy 1-2 favorite, Shaman Ghost, in the Grade 2 Suburban, was a noteworthy victory.

On Saturday, and back at Saratoga, Keen Ice will once again look to knock off another big name when he lines up against Gun Runner in the Grade 1 Whitney. He will also try to prove that there is life for David after defeating Goliath. I don't particularly like his chances in the Whitney, but then again, I didn't like his chances for the Travers or Suburban either.