Lucky Debonair was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 best known for winning the 1965 Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...

. He was bred by owners Dan and Ada Rice

Dan and Ada Rice

Daniel F. Rice and his wife Ada L. Rice were American businesspeople, thoroughbred racehorse owners and breeders, and philanthropists. Dan Rice was educated in the public school system of Chicago, Illinois and spent two years at Depaul University and the University of Notre Dame. In 1919, he...

 of Wheaton, Illinois

Wheaton, Illinois

Wheaton is an affluent community located in DuPage County, Illinois, approximately west of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Wheaton is the county seat of DuPage County...

 at their Danada Farm satellite operation on Old Frankfort Pike near Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington, Kentucky

Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...

, a property that once was part of the legendary Idle Hour Stock Farm

Idle Hour Stock Farm

Idle Hour Stock Farm was a 400 acre thoroughbred horse breeding and training farm near Lexington, Kentucky, United States established in 1906 by Colonel Edward R...

. Lucky Debonair was sired by Vertex and out of the mare Fresh as Fresh, who was a daughter of the 1943 U.S. Triple Crown Champion Count Fleet

Count Fleet

Count Fleet was born and died at Stoner Creek Stud farm in Paris, Kentucky, United States. He was a Thoroughbred racehorse and Triple Crown champion in 1943....

.

Conditioned for racing by trainer Frank Catrone

Frank Catrone

Frank Catrone, Jr. was an American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who best known for winning the 1965 Kentucky Derby as a trainer....

, as a two-year-old in 1964, Lucky Debonair made one start at the Atlantic City Race Course

Atlantic City Race Course

The Atlantic City Race Course , formerly the Atlantic City Race Track, is a thoroughbred horse race track located in the Mays Landing section of Hamilton Township, in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The track is located off the Black Horse Pike next to the Hamilton Mall...

, where he finished out of the money. Sent to race in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 at age three, the unheralded colt was ridden by Bill Shoemaker. He finished second in the San Felipe Stakes

San Felipe Stakes

The San Felipe Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The San Felipe is a Grade II event open to three-year-old horses. Normally held in mid-March, it is raced at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on dirt and currently...

 and won the San Vicente Handicap

San Vicente Stakes

The San Vicente Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park. A Grade III event, the race is open to three-year-old horses willing to race seven furlongs on the dirt and carries a purse of $150,000....

, both at Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park is a thoroughbred racetrack in Arcadia, California, United States. It offers some of the prominent racing events in the United States during the winter and in spring. With its backdrop of the purple San Gabriel Mountains, it is considered by many as the world's most beautiful race...

 in Arcadia

Arcadia, California

Arcadia is an affluent city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and located approximately northeast of downtown Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley and at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains....

. He was a supplementary entrant in the West Coast's

West Coast of the United States

West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...

 most important race for three-year-olds, the Santa Anita Derby

Santa Anita Derby

The Santa Anita Derby is an American Grade 1 thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds run each April at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California and carries a purse of $1 million. Inaugurated in 1935, it is considered the most important West Coast stepping-stone to the Kentucky Derby...

. Under Shoemaker, Lucky Debonair won the race by four lengths and set a new stakes record of 1:47.00, a time that as of 2008 has been equaled but not broken. He followed this victory with another very important win in the Blue Grass Stakes

Blue Grass Stakes

The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, currently sponsored by the Toyota Motor Corporation, is an American Grade 1 horse race for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds held annually in mid April at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Kentucky....

 at Keeneland Race Course and was made the second choice among bettors

Parimutuel betting

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vig" is removed, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winning bets...

 for the Kentucky Derby.

1965 Kentucky Derby

Lucky Debonair gave Shoemaker his third Derby win by defeating ten other top three-year-olds, including the heavily favored American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt of 1964 Bold Lad

Bold Lad

Bold Lad was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse. He was bred and raced by Gladys Phipps and her brother Ogden L. Mills under their Wheatley Stable banner. His sire was eight time Leading sire in North America, Bold Ruler and his dam was the racing mare Misty Morn,Trained by Bill Winfrey,...

 (10th), the brilliantly fast Ogden Phipps

Ogden Phipps

Ogden Phipps was an American stockbroker, court tennis champion and Hall of Fame member, thoroughbred horse racing executive and owner/breeder, and an art collector and philanthropist...

 colt Dapper Dan

Dapper Dan (horse)

Dapper Dan was an American racehorse. Bred by Dorothy Dorsett Brown, owned and raced by Ogden Phipps. He had an outstanding sophomore season finishing second or fourth in five different stakes races...

 (2nd), future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame

National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame was founded in 1950 in Saratoga Springs, New York, to honor the achievements of American thoroughbred race horses, jockeys, and trainers...

 inductee Tom Rolfe

Tom Rolfe

The racehorse Tom Rolfe was one of the best American sons of the great racehorse and sire Ribot. His dam was Pocahontas, from whom he takes his name...

 (3rd), and Hail To All

Hail To All

Hail To All was an American thoroughbred stallion racehorse. He was sired by Hail To Reason, out of the mare, Ellen's Best, who was in turn sired by War Relic, son of the great Man o' War....

 (5th). For In the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes

Preakness Stakes

The Preakness Stakes is an American flat Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds held on the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs on dirt. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds ; fillies 121 lb...

, a bruised ankle that almost caused him to be withdrawn from the race contributed to Lucky Debonair finishing seventh. The colt did not run in the Belmont Stakes

Belmont Stakes

The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes Thoroughbred horse race held every June at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is a 1.5-mile horse race, open to three year old Thoroughbreds. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds ; fillies carry 121 pounds...

.

Healthy, Lucky Debonair returned to racing at age four in 1966. He won three of five starts, including a win over Native Diver

Native Diver

Native Diver was an American Thoroughbred racehorse bred and owned by Mr. and Mrs. Louis K. Shapiro who had claimed his dam, Fleet Diver, the daughter of Devil Diver out of Our Fleet by Count Fleet. Despite the fact that her immediate lineage included members of Blood-Horse magazine List of the...

 in California's prestigious Santa Anita Handicap

Santa Anita Handicap

The Santa Anita Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually in early March at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade I race for horses four years old and up , and is considered the most important race for older horses in North America during the winter racing season...

. Retired to stud

Stud (animal)

A stud animal is a registered animal retained for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species usually imply that the animal is entire—that is, not castrated—and therefore capable of siring offspring...

 duty at the Rices' farm in Kentucky, he produced fifteen stakes

Graded stakes race

A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...

 winners there and in Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, where he was sent in 1976 when the then-widowed Ada Rice disbanded her racing stable.

Lucky Debonair died of old age in 1987 at age twenty-five. On May 4, 2002, the city of Wheaton, Illinois honored him with a plaque and memorial rock at the Danada Equestrian Center.