Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
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4.14 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7 1 87 TIP KEEP THE SENTIMENTAL TWO-DOLLAR BET TO TWO DOLLARS. Silky Sullivan – now there was a horse of the people. A litle guy's lucky charm with a copper coat as bright as a new penny. A horse with a style that thrilled the masses. Silky didn't just come from way back to win his races; he came from way, way, way back. One time Silky dropped about 40 miles behind his feld. OK, it was actually 40 lengths, which is racetrack parlance for trailing the leader by so far there isn't a hope of winning. But then he'd come on like a freball to pass every rival. When Silky Sullivan came from nearly 30 lengths behind to win the Santa Anita Derby, he earned a trip to Kentucky to be ridden by Bill Shoemaker in the 1958 Kentucky Derby. And with him, Silky Sullivan carried the hopes and dreams of ordinary Ameri- cans. They were mesmerized by the idea of a horse not bred from royalty, who didn't race the regular way, who was as beautiful an eyeful as ever to set foot on a racetrack. Somebody said Silky Sullivan was the greatest Sullivan since John L. Because Silky Sullivan would fall so far behind, CBS assigned a special camera just to follow the horse in the Derby and placed that picture into the corner of the broadcast screen. It was the frst split-screen TV im- age in sports history. Silky was one of three entries to go of at odds of 2-to-1 in the '58 Derby, including Tim Tam. But it was the people's horse, Silky Sullivan, who set a record up to that time for the most $2 win bets ever wagered on a horse in the Ken- tucky Derby. Alas, Silky Sullivan passed only a couple of horses and fnished 12th. But not everybody bet just $2 on Silky Sullivan. There's a story (and it may be more legend than fact) that afer Silky Sul- livan won the Santa Anita Derby, a bank clerk in California, a normally mild-man- nered fellow, "withdrew" $40,000 of other people's money from his own bank and bet it — with bookies, or somehow — on Silky Sullivan to win the Kentucky Derby. The Monday afer the Derby, the clerk reported for work as usual and promptly confessed: The $40,000 was gone, went the way of Silky Sullivan's Derby dream. — BD www.louisville.com where to go. what to do. l ouisville com louisville com Louisville.com caters exclusively to local businesses, providing great visibility on a site that specializes in what's going on about town. We cover everything from the music and arts scenes to sports and restaurant news with special emphasis on major local events. Louisville.com has the most comphrehensive and up-to-date calendar of events in the city. THINK LOCAL 64-81.indd 71 3/20/14 12:23 PM