In the Dwyer Stakes, Damascus closed from 12 lengths back and carried 16 pounds more than the second placed horse.

Damascus was sired by Sword Dancer (1959's Horse of the Year) out of Kerala (by My Babu) foaled at the Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

A high-strung horse, Damascus was enervated by the humidity and spooked by the crowd noise in the Kentucky Derby, so he was thereafter given a stable pony to calm him.

He bowed a tendon while racing in his second Jockey Club Gold Cup, coming in last, which was the only time in his career he was out of the top three.

At stud at Arthur B. Hancock Jr.'s Claiborne Farm near Paris, Kentucky, Damascus sired 71 stakes winners before being pensioned in 1989.