Venetian Way (March 23, 1957 – October 17, 1964) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1960 Kentucky Derby.

Background

Venetian Way was a chestnut horse bred in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

by John W. Greathouse. He was purchased by

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

businessman Isaac Blumberg who raced him under the ''nom de course'' of Sunny Blue Farm. Venetian Way was trained by Victor Sovinski of

Kankakee, Illinois Kankakee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Kankakee County, Illinois, United States. Located on the Kankakee River, as of 2020, the city's population was 24,052. Kankakee is a principal city of the Kankakee-Bourbonnais-Bradley, IL MSA, Kan ...

. He was named after a Miami Beach causeway.

Racing career

At age two, Venetian Way made nine starts winning four times. Of his eleven starts at age three, he earned three more wins. Leading up to the 1960 U.S. Triple Crown series, Venetian Way ran second to

Bally Ache Bally Ache (February 3, 1957 – October 28, 1960) was an American Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who won the Preakness Stakes in 1960 but died later only five months later from an intestinal ailment. In her book ''American Classic Pedigree ...

in the

Florida Derby The Florida Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. Since 2005, it has been run five weeks before the Kentucky Derby, which is held on the first Saturd ...

. He was sent off as the third

parimutuel betting Parimutuel betting, or pool betting, is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the ''house-take'', or ''vigorish'', are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among a ...

choice in the Kentucky Derby behind favorite Tompion and second choice, Bally Ache.

1960 Triple Crown

In the 1960 Kentucky Derby- the "drugstore Derby"- Venetian Way beat Bally Ache. Venetian Way was a sore horse who responded admirably to butazolidin, legal in Kentucky at the time. When Venetian Way ran in the Preakness two weeks later without the help of butazolidin (pain-killing drugs are not legal in Maryland), he did not finish in the money while the sound-legged Bally Ache won. The performance of Venetian Way with and without butazolidin and other similar cases convinced the Kentucky State Racing Commission that drugs were unfair to the horse and to the public. Ridden in the Kentucky Derby by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

jockey A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used ...

Bill Hartack, Venetian Way remained within striking distance, then passed Bally Ache as they came around the final turn heading into the homestretch and won going away by 3½ lengths. In the ensuing

1960 Preakness Stakes The 1960 Preakness Stakes was the 85th running of the $175,000 Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 21, 1960, and was televised in the United States on the CBS television network. Bally Ache, who was jockeyed by ...

, Venetian Way finished fifth to winner Bally Ache. Trainer Vic Sovinski was unhappy with how Hartack was riding the colt while training for the Belmont, and he sacked him. Venetian Way ran second behind Celtic Ash, who was ridden by Hartack, in the longest of the Triple Crown races, the 1½ mile

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

Stud record

Retired to stud for the 1961 season, Venetian Way was not successful as a sire.

In popular culture

*In the

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...

novel 11/22/63, Jake Epping, the novel's protagonist, claims his largest successful bet was on Venetian Way in the 1960 Kentucky Derby.

Pedigree

References

Venetian Way's 1960 Kentucky Derby
{{Kentucky Derby Winners 1957 racehorse births 1964 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in the United States Kentucky Derby winners Thoroughbred family 4-m