The Street Car Derby: The Count was the Most Fleet

In 1943, the United States was in the thick of World War II, fighting two enemies on two different sides of the globe. There was no end in sight. Back home, Americans were being asked to conserve practically everything - food, clothing, steel, empty toothpaste tubes, tires and gasoline. More than anything, the demoralized public needed a domestic hero to rally around and lift their spirits.

They found that hero in a horse.

Count Fleet was a leggy chestnut horse with a temper and a mind of his own. He was quick to bite any unlucky person's hand that got too close to him, and he put his jockey, Hall-of-Famer Johnny Longden, in danger many times. Once, the colt ran in between two horses going in the opposite direction simply because they were in his way, and Longden could do nothing about, for the horse had a mind of his own. 

"If you took a hold of him, he'd bolt," Longden said. "He'd try to run for the outside fence. His unpredictable manners didn’t exactly endear him to anyone.”

The prospect of speed wasn't enough for owner John D. Hertz, who told Longden that Count Fleet "is going to kill you someday." Frustrated with the colt's temperament, he put him up for sale for $4,500. Longden heard of the sale, jumped on his bicycle and pedaled to the nearest telephone, where he dialed Hertz and pleaded with him not to sell him. Hertz relented and kept the colt, putting him in the care of Don Cameron, a former World War I aviator. Cameron was patient with the horse and put blinkers on him to keep his mind on what was going on in front.

Count Fleet responded with a spectacular two-year-old campaign. Starting slowly, he lost his first two races; in his first race, he got left at the post and was behind by almost 50 yards by the time he took off, but he still managed a second place showing. Later, he set track records in the Champagne Stakes and the Pimlico Futurity. He won the Walden Stakes by 30 lengths and finished the year with 10 wins in 15 starts, earning him Two-Year-Old Horse of the Year honors. His sole third place finish was due to a filly named Askmenow, whom he refused to pass during the race - maybe because he was flirting with her.

Going into 1943, he was the horse to beat for the Kentucky Derby, getting an unheard-of 132 pounds in the Jockey Club's Experimental Free Handicap - the highest ever for a rising three-year-old. In the all-important Wood Memorial, Count Fleet won but struck his hind leg and suffered a deep gash. It was a serious enough injury for Hertz and Cameron to contemplate scratching him from the Derby, but they decided to ship him to Churchill Downs to see what happened. During the trip to Louisville, Longden and Cameron alternated between bathing the leg in Epsom Salts and soaking it in ice to reduce inflammation.

They weren't sure whether there would be a race when they got there. Gas rations were in effect, and the railroads were full of trains carrying war cargo. In February 1943, The U.S. Office of Defense Transportation asked Americans to stop any unnecessary travel. The racing season in Florida was canceled, forcing Count Fleet to wait until the New York meets to run. The ODT also announced its intentions to ask officials to cancel the Kentucky Derby.

Matt Winn, president of Churchill Downs, politely declined, saying that they would discourage fans from traveling to Louisville, and taxis were forbidden to be within a mile of the track. Private vehicles were frowned upon as well unless the lucky owners had gas ration cards. 

Winn relied on locals to take the rickety 4th Avenue streetcars to the racetrack. His only concern was to run the Derby, no matter how small the crowd was. "The Derby will be run if only two horses start and only two people show up," he said.

The 1943 Derby quickly became known as the "Street Car Derby," and an estimated 65,000 people, mostly locals, came out to see Count Fleet run. Those out-of-town VIPs with box seats were offered their money back, but they refused, instead giving their seats to members of the military at nearby Fort Knox. There were men in uniform everywhere - a reminder that the country was at war - but the sporting event gave people "a short return to the pattern of the peaceful, happy life that was,” Winn later wrote.

Those lucky enough to get there made Count Fleet the 2 to 5 favorite - it would have been even shorter odds had the public not gotten wind of his injury - and they weren't disappointed as the colt ran to the lead at the start, toyed with Gold Shower in the backstretch, and then put away Blue Swords in the far turn to win going away by three lengths, with Longden desperately trying to hold him up as he did in all of his races. His leg showed no signs of pain or inflammation; in fact, he was so wound up that he went through several hot walkers, who got too tired trying to keep up with the horse. It took them 45 minutes to get him cooled off.

It was on to the Preakness, where Count Fleet won by eight lengths. After a win in the Withers Stakes, he traveled to the Belmont Stakes, where he faced only two opponents and was made the 1-20 favorite. He did not disappoint the crowd, winning by an astounding 25 lengths - a record that would stand until Secretariat's 31-length romp in 1973. He broke War Admiral's stakes record in the process of becoming the nation's sixth Triple Crown winner. 

Said Longden: "Going into the race, I thought he'd have to fall down to get beat, and even then I thought he could get up and win. He was that good."

Unfortunately, Count Fleet injured his leg in the stretch and never raced again. He never finished out of the money, winning 16 of 21 starts, placing second four times and third once. He was undefeated as a three-year-old. 

He sired 38 stakes winners, including 1951 Kentucky Derby winner Count Turf. Since Count Fleet's father, Reigh Count, won the 1928 Derby, it's the only time three generations of horses have won the Kentucky Derby.

Equine historian John Hervey wrote, "[Count Fleet's] achievements were so dazzling, his record so splendid, that not only does he "stand out" - he throws into the shade all other Thoroughbreds of 1943, without regard to age, sex or other qualifications."

And America had found its hero.

~Written by Peter Lee @peege43