Donnaguska, a first time starter owned by Billy Hays and trained by Joe Woodard, makes a remarkable stretch run to win her debut by two and a quarter lengths at Hawthorne Race Course on October 23, 2008. As track announcer Peter Galassi noted, Donnaguska was “far, far, far, far back” early under rider Israel Ocampo.  You won’t believe where she is when they turn for home.

Off at 17-1, the three-year-old daughter of Yonaguska was the second longest shot in the field of nine.  According to the official Equibase chart she was about 23 1/2 lengths behind at the top of the stretch, meaning she ran her final quarter-mile in roughly :21 1/5.

So what happened to Donnaguska?  She was plagued with injuries but managed to win a minor stakes race two years later.  She won six races from 25 starts and earned just shy of $100,000 over five years.