This year’s running of unseasoned three-year-olds at Churchill Downs marked the first time in 27 years that the Kentucky Derby was won by an undefeated horse. Smarty Jones, bred in Pennsylvania by the legendary horse breeder Stewart Elliot, had won all seven of his races before this year’s Derby. Triple Crown champion Seattle Slew was the last unbeaten horse to win the Derby.

Equestrian enthusiasts can’t help but wonder if Smarty Jones will follow Seattle Slew’s legacy this year and capture the elusive Triple Crown, a feat that hasn’t been reached since 1977.

It has been a huge year for horse racing and this year’s Derby fetched its highest television rating since 1992.

Smarty Jones is owned by 77-year-old Roy Chapman. Chapman, who is suffering from emphysema and connected to an oxygen tank, eagerly watched his horse run to victory.

Smarty Jones’ success is somewhat of a miracle story. Early in his career he fractured his skull when he reared and cracked his head on an iron bar. It took him nearly two months to recover from that injury.