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SARGA.CO – The world of horse racing is filled with dramatic stories of victory. Each triumph is usually celebrated with joy, marking the long journey and hard work of horse and rider as they strive to outrun their rivals.
But have you ever heard of a victory that was utterly different—tragic, miraculous, and spine-chilling all at once?
This is the story of Frank Hayes, an amateur jockey who won a race… even though he had already died in the saddle.
Frank Hayes was not a professional jockey. By trade, he worked as a horse trainer and caretaker. But on June 4, 1923, he was given a rare chance to ride a horse named Sweet Kiss in a race at Belmont Park, New York.
The opportunity meant everything. Yet Sweet Kiss herself was no favorite—her odds at the betting windows stood at 20 to 1. Almost no one believed she could win. And perhaps that is what made the story legendary.
The race unfolded fiercely. Sweet Kiss surged forward, overtaking her rivals.
Spectators roared at the unexpected upset unfolding before their eyes. But what they did not know was that, midway through the race, Hayes had suffered a fatal heart attack.
His body stiffened, yet remained upright in the saddle. Sweet Kiss kept charging ahead, crossing the finish line first—with her lifeless jockey still upon her back.
The result entered history immediately. Frank Hayes became the first—and only—jockey to ever win a horse race posthumously. The Guinness World Records would later immortalize the event as one of the sport’s strangest, most haunting facts.
It wasn’t until after the finish, when officials and the horse’s owner stepped forward to congratulate him, that they realized something was wrong. At that moment, they discovered Hayes had died before the race was even over.
According to records, Hayes had rapidly dropped his weight—from 64 kg to 59 kg—to qualify for the race. This extreme crash diet is believed to have triggered the fatal heart attack.
Sweet Kiss herself never raced again after the incident. People gave her a grim new nickname: the “Sweet Kiss of Death.”
Frank Hayes was laid to rest three days later. In a final tribute to his dedication and bittersweet victory, he was buried still wearing the very racing silks he had worn when he won.
His story spread across the globe—not only for its eerie strangeness, but also for the deep irony it carried: a dream fulfilled, but at a price that could never be repaid.
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