Zippy Chippy was an American racehorse who gained notoriety in the late Nineties and early Noughties by running in exactly one hundred races without success, a record the polar opposite of what you’d hope for at, say, the best high roller casinos. Foaled on April 20, 1991, in New York State, Zippy Chippy was a grandson of 1964 Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer but, despite his illustrious pedigree, was blessed with, at best, modest ability.
Sold by his original owner, Charles Frysinger, at a loss of $6,500, after eighteen winless starts, Zippy Chippy was quickly ‘handed off’ by new owner, Michael Barbarita, after two more losses at Finger Lakes in Canandaigua, New York, which took his career record to 0-20. At that stage, he was acquired by Puerto Rican trainer Felix Monserrate in exchange, not for cash, but for a seven-year-old Ford pick-up truck.
Described by Monserrate as ‘stubborn, playful and lazy’, Zippy Chippy continued to ply his trade, largely unsuccessfully, at Finger Lakes until 1998, when he blotted his copybook by failing to leave the starting gate with the rest of the field on three consecutive occasions. He was subsequently banned for life from Finger Lakes, attracting harsh criticism of both horse and owner. Nevertheless, with a career record of 0-85, Zippy Chippy rose to national prominence and featured, along with Monserrate, in a cover story in ‘USA Today’.
Zippy Chippy made his hundredth, and final, start at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, Massachusetts on September 10, 2004. Despite being sent off second favourite, at 7/2, he ran a typically lifeless race and trailed in last. Zippy Chippy was retired from racing in December that year, having finished second eight times and third twelve times, for a total of $30,834 in prize money, but without once entering the winners’ enclosure. Some in life have winning runs, at casinosnz online casino, and the like, but poor Zippy Chippy just didn’t have any luck from beginning to end of his racing career.