American Triple Crown wins:Kentucky Derby (1969)Preakness Stakes (1969)Majestic Prince (March 19, 1966 – April 22, 1981) was a Thoroughbred racehorse.
In September 1967, Majestic Prince was purchased by Calgary, Alberta, oilman Frank McMahon at the Keeneland yearling sale for a then-record price of $250,000 ($2.3 million inflation adjusted).
[1] The California-based colt, that grew to 1,120 pounds, was trained by another Albertan, Johnny Longden, a longtime friend of Frank McMahon, who had retired in 1966 as the winningest jockey of all time.
Ridden by Bill Hartack, at age three, he quickly became the dominant three-year-old in West Coast racing, capping it off with an eight-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby.
Majestic Prince ran the entire race on the outside, but pulled up alongside Arts and Letters into second place as they came down the homestretch, then moved ahead to win by a neck.
That the horse with the best chance in 21 years to win the Triple Crown was pulling out brought a frenzy of publicity and questions, particularly because Longden had said the injury was a developing problem, but Majestic Prince could still run, although not at his best.
The decision to run never sat well with Longden, and despite his well-documented shouting match with the horse's owner in the days leading up to the race, Majestic Prince was still sent out to compete in the Belmont Stakes.