On March 24, 1940, a little brown colt was born. He was the son of Reigh Count out of Quickly, by Haste. He was named Count Fleet and was a clumsy and awkward young colt. His owner, John Herz (Herz Rent-a-Car) considered selling him as a yearling. There were no buyers and early in his two year old career Herz almost sold him for a meer 4,200, but declined the offer when his jockey, Johnny Longden, talked him out of it. Johnny persuaded Herz that Count Fleet just needed a bit more training and conditioning, and that he could be a grand runner in time.
Johnny Longden was right. Count fleet won ten of his last 13 starts and finished his year as racing's outstanding juvenile colt. He had been given 132 pounds in the Experimental Free Handicap, the highest impost in its 60 year history.
Over the winter between his two and three year old years, Count Fleet muscled up and filled out to tip the scales at 1,000 pounds. He began his three year old year on April 13, 1943, and won an allowance race Jamaica race track. Four days later he won the Wood Memorial Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths, but injured his leg after having been bumped by another horse.
The Count recovered quickly and on May 1, he entered the Derby. Nine other horses showed up to compete but were no competition at all. Count Fleet led the pack to become the victor by three lengths. A week later, with only three rivals, Count Fleet went on to win the Preakness Stakes by an astonishing 8 lengths.
The Belmont stakes would be the last race that Count Fleet would run, and he went out in style. His two competitors, Fairy Manhurst and Deseronto, put up a pretty good battle, but no-one was paying attention to them. All eyes were on Count Fleet, who charged past the finish line a whopping 25 lengths ahead. It was a crushing performance and left fans wondering what would come next. But what came next was frustration. A seemingly minor injury to the Counts left fore ankle refused to respond to treatment, and he was forced to retire from racing.
Count Fleet was a great success as a sire, especially as a broodmare sire. Some of his daughters were Kelso and Lucky Debonaire, who won the Derby in 1965. He lived out his years on Stoner Creek Farm, and died on December 3, 1973. He is considered to be the number 5 best racehorse in the top 100 racehorses in the 20th century.