The Legend of Zippy Chippy: Life Lessons from Horse Racing's Most Lovable Loser

About this book

From acclaimed humorist William Thomas comes the funny yet poignant story of a thoroughbred racehorse that lost 100 races in a row -- but in everyones eyes became the ultimate winner. On April 20 1991 at Capritaur Farms in Upstate New York Zippy Chippy strolled into the world. He was born from American horse racing royalty -- Compliance (his father was Kentucky Derby-winner Northern Dancer; his great-grandfather Native Dancer the Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner) and Listen Lady (great-granddaughter of Native Dancer). Even before his birth the hopes (not to mention the bill for his planned production) for Zippy Chippy were high. His pedigree was horse racing gold: Northern Dancer Man o War Count Fleet Bold Ruler War Admiral and Buckpasser were all ancestors. His success and glory seemed inevitable. But moments after his birth Zippy Chippy struggled to his feet took two steps forward . . . and stopped dead in his tracks. He looked around took in his surroundings maybe indulged in a little daydream then promptly lay down for a nap in the straw. And thus began Zippy Chippys storied racing career. Vince Lombardi one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time famously said "Winning isnt everything its the only thing." These words have become the battle cry of athletes coaches and teams everywhere but over the years sports have taken on a literal interpretation of Lombardis mantra. Match-fixing doping sabotage cocky and mean sportsmanship all in the name of winning have infiltrated and scandalized games teams reputations and newspaper headlines. Yet since his first moments in the world Zippy Chippy ignored Lombardi and turned his nose at the concept of winning-at-all-costs. In fact he decided to not win at all losing over the course of his career 100 consecutive races at some of the greatest tracks in the country: Belmont Park Aqueduct Finger Lakes and Suffolk Downs among them. And he did so with his owner Felix Monserrate by his side -- a man who refused to sell Zippy or even retire him simply because he couldnt come in first. Soon Zippys cheering squad grew to include people who enchanted by his story would travel from all over North America to watch him lose but then happily gallop back to his stable. To them Zippy Chippy was just like them; someone who wasnt an athlete with a million-dollar contract or someone with movie star looks -- he was a creature who struggled who lost and who failed even the lowest of expectations. But somehow he found a way to enjoy himself and eagerly return for the next race. Told with laugh-out-loud wit and a lot of heart The Legend of Zippy Chippy is the story of the losing-est racehorse in North American history -- a perpetual loser who would become the winning thoroughbred in professional horse racing to steal peoples hearts.