Majestic Prince - 1969 Kentucky Derby

[FLYFISH10605]

I also remember this Derby as a kid. Only 8 horses, but the smallest, most select field perhaps ever. The favorite I believe was Top Knight who took the Hopeful, Futurity, and Champagne at 2 and the Florida Derby before this. A&L was constantly on the improve but really blossomed to become the champ when Burch dumped Cruguet for Baeza. The winner, Majestic Prince was unbeaten in 8 starts in California including the SA Derby. Dike, won the Wood and Gotham in NY in fast closing style. What a field

[thistleccr]

I remember watching this Derby as a kid. Thanks for posting this!!

[WhiteCamry]

Strange to see such a small field for a Kentucky Derby.

[ereaven]

even though Majestic Prince raced before my time, he's one of my faves. He has one of the greatest thoroughbred names, IMO. A classic name of a classic Ky Derby winner.

[jhordanian]

2 outstanding horses in Majestic Prince and Arts and Letters. Interestingly, Arts and Letters got the nod for the 3 year old and horse of the year championships due largely to his post-Triple Crown exploits. Both are Hall of Famers.

[jmplays44]

Good hossrace.

[chrisuncleahmad]

When did ABC first cover the Derby?

[davemock]

That would be 1975...the year Chic Anderson made his only public gaffe, calling the wrong horse during the stretch call.

[tchas35]

Excellent battle between the top two -- and they were close again in the Preakness. Aggressive moves by Baeza and Hartack.

Alas, I was rooting for Top Knight.

[AwsiDooger]

Wow, that's an incredibly small field for the Derby. Only 8 horses. I guess the quality scared foes away.

Majestic Prince was twice part of denied immortality. He lost the Belmont and a chance to be an unbeaten Triple Crown winner. I was a young kid but I remember the commentators saying he was injured and should not run.

Then his son Coastal defeated the great Spectacular Bid in the Belmont a decade later, with help from that darn safety pin.

[davemock]

This may be the first Kentucky Derby that Charles David (Chic) Anderson, the on-track voice of the Derby and Churchill Downs, called as a member of the CBS Sports family.

[AwsiDooger]

You might be right about that. He didn't have a long career but what a decade he was fortunate to be a part of! Some of the best horses and races in history.

Chic Anderson really improved also. There are some comments on YouTube that his early '70s calls were boring. But once he got to Secretariat and beyond he loosened up and became more creative, some of the most memorable calls ever.

[davemock]

Agreed. By the way, this one is an excellent, quite peppy call too. I noticed when he was calling races for both TV and his home track he would start off moderately then roll into it. On TV-only races like the '73 Preakness, he would be "on" from the word go. Such a shame that he only called races for 20 years, dating back to his debut at Ellis Park.

[cf1934]

@davemock I think he overdid it in some of the races. I would rather have the race called as it is.No embellishing!

[JohnFPorcaro]

Majestic Prince,Arts & Letters a great rivalry

[gfn02]

Majestic Prince really ran a brilliant race there. I was impressed with the timing of his charge.