You are probably saying: ‘That name sounds familiar.’
‘Klute.’
Wasn’t he a thoroughbred racehorse?
Even though Klute is a name many a sports fans will remember you may need to be a horse racing aficionado to put a name to a face. As the horse joke goes: ‘Why the long face?’
You will have to go back to 1988. The venue, Haydock Park, Liverpool, England.
The scene was set. Klute, owned and trained and ridden by Lesley Bruce. He wasn’t your average thoroughbred horse. He was raised as a pet. In fact, he never raced under official rules. He used to run for fun on the beach.
Klute was a horse that both captured the imagination but questioned data too. ‘How could he be the fastest horse in the world?’ The Guinness Book of Records detailed his achievement as fact. In a World Speed Challenge, Klute had seemingly achieved the impossible. He had run a remarkably fast half furlong at Haydock Park, recording a world record of 44.91mph. He beat the former record set in 1945 when Speedy Gonzales, a Mexican quarter horse, clocked 43.26mph.
While some rejoiced in Klute’s success others sneered at his ‘record’. They didn’t believe it was true.
‘How could he be the fastest horse in the world?’
Standing her ground, Lesley Bruce was confident Klute could face any competition. He wouldn’t be frightened to take on the best racehorse.
The challenge was set.
A challenger was found for Klute.
On the 12th August, 1988: 5:15 Haydock, Klute would face his sole challenger, So Careful, trained by Jack Berry.
The Philip Cornes Match (Speed World Challenge) over 5-furlongs.
Something didn’t seem right. The bookmakers chalked-up the prices. Surely, Klute would be odds-on to win this two-horse race?
So why was Klute priced 9/1 second favourite? So Careful, a horse with an official rating of 71, was priced 1/14.
Lesley Bruce would ride Klute. His opponent, So Careful, a five-year-old horse, would be ridden by professional jockey, John Carroll.
In a time of just 1m 4.34s the race was over.
Victory by 25-lengths, unchallenged. So Careful won without breaking into a sweat.
Klute’s reputation in tatters. A tearful Lesley Bruce, consoling her nine-year-old horse, questioning how he could have lost.
She said: ‘There was something wrong with him. He’s been ill.’
We will always wonder what happened to Klute’s exceptional pace. Was his World Record a fluke?
So Careful was a hard-as-nails horse that races 38 times, winning 6 times, but was far from an exceptional horse. If anything he was just an average horse.
It wasn’t the end of the story. Klute would have a second chance to prove that performance all wrong.
In 1990 Klute would face another rival from the Jack Berry stable, in Valldemosa. The venue Catterick Bridge, racing over a distance of 5-furlongs.
This time the bookmakers had given up any hope of Klute beating his sole opponent. Valldemos was priced at 1/33. There was little support for Klute at odds of 16/1.
The race comments detailed: Valldemosa: ‘Made all, easily.’ Klute was beaten by 8-lengths.
Klute’s title as the World’s Fastest Horse still stands today.