Zippy Chippy

Thoroughbred racehorse infobox
horsename= Zippy Chippy


caption=
sire= Compliance
dam= Listen Lady
damsire= Buckfinder
sex= Gelding
foaled= 1991
country= USA flagicon|USA
colour= Brown
breeder= Capritaur Farm
owner= Felix Monserrate
trainer= Felix Monserrate
record= 100:0-8-12
earnings= $30,834
race= None
honours =
updated= July 7 2008

Zippy Chippy, born April 20 1991, is America's favorite thoroughbred racing loser.

With a pedigree full of famous horses, among others: Buckpasser, Tom Fool, Northern Dancer, Bold Ruler, Round Table, Count Fleet, War Admiral, Native Dancer, Man o' War, Nasrullah, Busanda, Ben Brush...as well as the greatest "blue hen" broodmare of the Twentieth century, La Troienne, then all the way back to Glencoe and Diomed—both very great sires, Diomed producing Sir Archy, grand sire of the amazing Boston, Glencoe producing great daughters, the greatest of which was Reel, not forgetting Blue Larkspur, Black Toney, Domino, Lexington, Eclipse, Leamington, Norfolk, Lecomte, Sweep, St. Simon, Spendthrift, Phalaris, Nearco, Princequillo, Lady Lightfoot, and Reigh Count), Zippy Chippy ought to have been a star of the turf. But Zippy Chippy can't—or won't—win races. In 100 starts, he lost 100 times.

Owned and trained by Felix Monserrate and bred by Capritaur Farm, Zippy Chippy is a New York bred, and the pride of a legion of fans. No horse in America has ever lost as many races as Zippy Chippy, except a gelding called Thrust who managed to lose 106 of them, but for some reason never became the star Zippy is. Tom Gilcoyne, a retired historian for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York, said that Zippy Chippy "...hasn't done anything to harm the sport. But it's a little bit like looking at the recorded performances of all horse races through the wrong end of the telescope."

Felix Monserrate acquired the famous Zippy in 1995 in a trade for an '88 Ford truck. Monserrate was already boarding Zippy Chippy and knew his temperament. He'd been bitten many times. Eventually, Zippy Chippy would be banned for infractions of every Thoroughbred horse racing rule in place. The only track "not" to ban him was at the Northampton, Massachusetts' Three-County Fair.

"I don't care how old he is, he's trying and trying and trying, and those things really made me feel happy," Monserrate said.

Zippy did win a race. In August 2001, he came home first against a minor league baseball player in a 120 foot race. It was a narrow win, but nevertheless a win. (Although there are sources that say he lost this 40-yard dash. It seems there might have been two races. He certainly won the one against Darnell McDonald, then playing for the Rochester Red Wings. Mystery solved. On August 18 2000, Rochester outfielder Jose Herrera outran Zippy Chippy in a 40-yard race.) He also won against a harness racer called Paddy's Laddy. Under strong urging, he squeaked past Paddy's Laddy and his rig to win by a neck. This was a publicity stunt and he'd spotted the trotter a twenty length lead.

After his win, Felix said, "It feels good to win but it doesn't count until we do it against Thoroughbreds. Who knows? Maybe winning will give him a little heart."

Monserrate refused to enter his horse in a claiming race just to get a win. "I don't want any crazy people claiming him. He's like a member of my family. He's mean, he kicks, he bites, but he has a home forever with me and my daughter."

His 100th loss came on Friday September 10 2004 in the Northampton Fair at the Three County Fairgrounds. He went off at odds of 7-2 making him the second betting choice. [ [http://www.equidaily.com/bestbet/extras/misc/zippy.html Zippy Chippy: 100 and counting ] ] A host of fans were there that day to cheer him at the start and to take his picture. Said his jockey, "It would be nice if people took photos at the "end" of the race too." Zippy came in last.

In December 2004, he retired to become an outrider pony at his hometown track, Finger Lakes racetrack in Farmington, New York, where he'd also been banned from racing on September 8 1998 after failing to leave the gate with the rest of the field for the third consecutive time. As an outrider pony, he will escort horses in the post parade and lead them to the gate.

Hollywood once called. But to date, there's been no movie. In 2000, People magazine included him on its list of that year's most interesting personalities. Fans write him. An English ad campaign used his name and image to convince kids to stay in school.

"Say you have three children," Felix said, "One is a lawyer, doing well. The other a doctor, very, very successful. But the third one, not so smart, so he's working at McDonald's. What do you do? Ignore him? Course not. He's the one who needs your help. That's Zippy."

Zippy Chippy's lifetime record is: 100 starts = 0-8-12. He actually earned a surprising $30,834.

An aside

For the worst track record in the "world", one has to look to Japan and their beloved racehorse Haru Urara. And then there's England's worst racehorse, Quixall Crossett. By the age of 16 in 2001, he had lost 98 consecutive starts.

A horse called Dona Chepa's penchant for losing (0 wins out of 125 starts) at least beats other notable marks for futility including Ouroene (0 for 124), Gloria Springs (0 for 106, Japan), Thrust (0 for 105, North America) and Quixall Crossett (0 for 103, Britain).

References

* [http://www.equidaily.com/bestbet/extras/misc/zippy.html The Zipster's 100th loss]
* [http://www.pedigreequery.com/zippy+chippy Zippy Chippy's pedigree, plus photo]
* [http://www.fingerlakesracetrack.com/ Finger Lakes racetrack]
* [http://www.syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/encyclopedia/entries/zippy-chippy.html Zippy is an entry in "The Encyclopedia of New York State"]
* [http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/article.asp?id=5787 Zippy Chippy's 90th loss]