Record-Breaking Claimer Rapid Redux Brings a Piece of History to Life

Often we hear how horse racing was so much better in the past and how horses ran more than five times a year, making it so our stars could be followed and not forgotten about. But one horse is letting us have a little taste of the past by running nearly every two and a half weeks.

While Rapid Redux isn’t a stakes winner—his only two attempts at stakes resulted in two last place finishes—the horse takes us back to an era where horse racing was about running a horse instead of leaving it in the barn.

The gutsy five-year-old was brought to the national stage earlier this year when he kept a winning streak alive that dated back to Dec 2, 2010. But it wasn’t until his last race on Nov. 21 when he was going for his 20th consecutive victory that he finally got widespread attention. Obviously, he won that race and broke the record for most consecutive wins by a horse in the continental United States, held by Pepper’s Pride and Zenyatta.

But it wasn’t until today that the gelding truly had a major chance at reminding us of history.

Today was the day that Rapid Redux was aiming for tying a record that hadn’t been touched since 1948 when Triple Crown winner Citation put together 19 wins (Roseben also has 19 consecutive wins from 1905) in a calendar year. Many tuned into the race, although actual numbers haven’t been released on how many were at the track and how many watched over the internet and television, and Rapid Redux made the record tying win look almost easy.

The gelding went off at 2-5 odds in the 1 1/16 mile starter allowance on dirt and immediately took the lead. It did look like he may be caught down the lane as Awesome Rhythm had a nice closing kick, but the gelding won by half a length with the third place horse 5 1/4 lengths behind the leaders.

Rapid Redux’s win was an immediate hit on social media with the horse jumping to No. 5 on the U.S. trending list on Twitter, just a half an hour after his race. The winner was also talked about all over Facebook by both horse and non-horse people alike.

It’s not known yet if the horse will make an attempt at breaking Citation’s record, but it is obvious that he’s the biggest non-stakes winning fan favorite on the track right now.

Rapid Redux may not be running in graded stakes races, but he reminds all of us that even in this era of fragile thoroughbreds, there are horses out there that can still run and win often.

While it is unlikely that the horse’s success will cause trainers to do anything different with their stakes horses, he gives us a chance to watch history unfold right before our eyes. There is little doubt this gutsy gelding is giving us a once in a lifetime show that every race fan should savor, no matter who their favorite horse is.