Zippy Chippy Loses 100th Race in Row

The more Zippy Chippy loses, the more horseplayers want to bet on him.

The Zipster, a winless 13-year-old gelding, went into a $3,100 race on Friday at the fair meet in Northampton, Mass., with 99 losses, yet he was bet down to 7-2, the second choice in an eight-horse field.

Those tickets became confetti as Zippy Chippy, running against fellow maidens, finished last, beaten by almost 11 lengths, in a race of about five furlongs. Willie Belmonte, Northampton’s leading jockey, couldn’t prevent the horse from suffering his 100th consecutive loss.

Although it has been widely reported that Zippy Chippy holds the record for futility by a North American horse, the record for a winless horse belongs to Thrust, who lost all 105 of his starts before he was retired in 1956, according to the Thoroughbred Times Racing Almanac. Thrust, who didn’t run beyond his 6-year-old season, finished with five seconds and seven thirds and earned $8,180. Zippy Chippy, who has eight seconds and 12 thirds, has earned $30,834.

“He finished dead last -- the poor thing,” Jean Douglas, one of the Northampton fans who bet on Zippy Chippy, told Associated Press.

Zippy Chippy is banned from his home track in Finger Lakes, N.Y., because stewards there consider him non-competitive.

Biggs won Friday’s race. Zippy Chippy, who has already lost twice at the fair meet this year, will try again there next weekend.