Curious Facts 02 - Dead Man Wins The Race
Make sure you hit the LIKE and Subscribe button!
Episode 02
Dead Man Wins The Race
On June 4, 1923, the most unexpected result happened. Frank Hayes arrives on the finishing line of a Horse racing. Not only it was surprising because it was his very first race, but also because he was dead. Although Hayes was a trainer by profession, this was his very first win as a jockey, and oddly, his last.
Hayes won the race by a horse hair. He apparently died somewhere in the middle of the race, but his body remained in the saddle throughout. The horse, a 20-1 outsider called Sweet Kiss, was owned by a Miss Frayling.
Hayes's death was not discovered until Miss Frayling and the race officials came to felicitate him, shortly after the race.
It was speculated that the fatal heart attack was probably brought on by Hayes' severe efforts to meet the weight requirements, possibly followed by the excitement of riding to the front of the pack. The newspaper reported he had slimmed down from 142 pounds to 130 pounds in a very short time.
It was claimed that Sweet Kiss was nicknamed "Sweet Kiss of Death" for the rest of her life. Also, the horse would not be in a race ever again.
Haye's record is to be known as the only man winning a race while being dead, a record in competitive sports history that no one would really like to break. Links to know more about this fact will be provided in the description.
This is it for our second episode, let us know what you think about it in the comments section. Remember to hit the like button and subscribe to the channel. Thanks for watching and see you soon!
The Disclaimer: all content used to produce this episode is content listed under Creative Commons 0 licences, including video footage and audio resources. Any exception to this rule follows the fair use policy.
