On This Day...

Kauai King was nowhere to be seen on the radar screen as a Kentucky Derby contender going into his 3-year-old season in 1966. But that soon changed in Florida over the winter and early spring.

Kauai King, whose juvenile season consisted of a single triumph in four starts at Arlington Park, got his first win of the new season at Hialeah going six furlongs in early February under new rider Don Brumfield. His next win came Feb. 22 at the same six furlongs over 11 rivals.

The Florida racing scene shifted to Gulfstream Park, and Kauai King won two races there, including the Fountain of Youth, and was second in the Hutcheson Stakes. From there, it was on to Bowie in Maryland, where he won the Governor's Gold Cup and Prince George's Stakes.

In the absence of injured superstars Buckpasser and Graustark, Kauai King captured the Run for the Roses to redeem the 1953 Derby loss of his sire, Native Dancer. Kauai King won the Preakness, but ran unplaced in the Belmont Stakes.