Canonero II

Canonero II (April 24, 1968 – November 11, 1981) (in Spanish: Cañonero II) was a Venezuelan champion Thoroughbred race horse that may be best remembered for winning the first two legs of the 1971 U.S. Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes.

Background

Bred by Edward B. Benjamin in Greensboro, North Carolina, the bay colt was born with a noticeably crooked foreleg, so was considered to have no future in racing. He was sold as a yearling for $1,200 at the Keeneland Sales to Venezuelan breeders Ramon Echegaray and Luis Navas. Purchased by Edgar Caibett, the horse was shipped to his owners native Venezuela, where he earned an undistinguished record racing as a two-year-old.

Triple Crown races

Because of his breeding, Canonero II qualified for the Kentucky Derby, the most prestigious event in United States Thoroughbred horse racing. Trained by Juan Arias and ridden by jockey Gustavo Avila, in the spring of 1971, the horse was shipped to Louisville, Kentucky, for the big race. There, Canonero II was dismissed as a horse that did not belong in such elite company and was listed at the bottom of the pack of the betting odds as part of a six-horse pool.