Which racehorse holds the record for the most consecutive losses?

Globally, several racehorses have gained celebrity or, better, notoriety in their native countries and beyond purely because of their lack of ability on the racecourse. Indeed, most of these habitual losers managed to complete their careers without a single visit to the winners’ enclosure.

However, one that didn’t was Celerity, who, nonetheless, set the record for consecutive losses in Great Britain and Ireland, 105, when only third in an apprentices’ handicap at Thirsk on July 23, 2021. The seven-year-old beat the previous record, 103, set by another ‘superstar’, Quixall Crossett, who, between February 21, 1990 and November 18, 2001, troubled the judge eight times, but never did better than second, beaten two lengths, in a five-runner novices’ chase at Wetherby on May 25, 1998. Celerity ‘blotted his copybook’ by making all to win a fillies’ handicap at Haydock on August, 2021 but, on the last ten starts of his career, beat just six of 106 rivals, finishing with a record of 116-1-7-9.

Internationally, two horses have fared even better, or worse, than Celerity in terms of consecutive losses. Between November, 1998 and September, 2004, the Japanese mare Haru Urara compiled the unenviable record of 113-0-5-7, but nonetheless caught the public imagination and was fondly dubbed ‘shining star of losers everywhere’. Better again was the mare Dona Chepa, who plied her trade exclusively in lowly claiming races at Hipódromo Camarero in Canóvanas, Puerto Rico between February 14, 2001 and December 5, 2008, but finished her career with a record of 135-0-1-2.

Finally, Zippy Chippy, who compiled a record of 100-0-8-12 in the United States between September 13, 1994 and September 10, 2004 and was, at one point, dubbed the ‘world’s worst racehorse’, deserves an honourable mention. He wasn’t quite the worst, but nonetheless made the list of ‘Most Intriguing People of the Year ‘ published by ‘People’ magazine in 2000.

It’s important of course to consider that for every loser there’s a winner. That applies to all sports, and indeed everything that’s considered a gamble.