Zippy Chippy's pedigree includes many famous horses, such as Ben Brush, Buckpasser, Busanda, Bold Ruler, Count Fleet, Man o' War, Nasrullah, Native Dancer, Northern Dancer, Round Table, Tom Fool, War Admiral, and the greatest "blue hen" broodmare of the twentieth century, La Troienne.
Tom Gilcoyne, a retired historian for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York, said that Zippy Chippy "...hasn't done anything to harm the sport.
The horse was not always cooperative at races, and was eventually banned from competing at a number of tracks for such antics as "refusing to break from the starting gate".
[9] Zippy also won against a harness racer called Paddy's Laddy in a publicity stunt in which he spotted the trotter a twenty-length lead.
[18][19] Zippy Chippy went on tour in Kentucky in the summer of 2012 to bring attention to the safe retirement of race horses.
[22] He was previously featured in the 2016 book The Legend of Zippy Chippy: Life Lessons from Horse Racing’s Most Lovable Loser.