If at first you don't succeed

Meet Zippy Chippy, the world's worst racing horse.

Zippy Chippy, thoroughbred racing's all-time loser, made it 0-for-100 Friday when he finished last in an eight-horse field at the Three-County Fairgrounds.

The 13-year-old brown gelding's awful record has made him something of a celebrity. He was a crowd favorite in Northampton, where plenty of brave bettors wagered on Zippy Chippy at 7-2 odds, including Al Supple, who picked him on a $6 trifecta ticket.

"I think he'll be in the money," Supple said.

He was wrong. Zippy never recovered from a slow start in which he bumped shoulders with Patuxent Wind coming out of the gate.

"He was dead last. Poor thing," said Jean Douglas, who also bet on him, as did her husband.

"We've seen him run three years in a row," Jim Douglas said. "We bought Zippy Chippy shirts and everything."

The horse, stabled at Finger Lakes Race Track in New York, tied the mark for thoroughbred futility in 1998, losing his 85th straight race.

There's a bigtime marketing opportunity in here, if someone with a little knowhow steps in and takes advantage of it.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on September 11, 2004 to Other sports | TrackBack